Eagles start in midseason form
After successful run at Adidas event, Atascocita ready for district
Atascocita is off to a strong start.
After struggling to earn any wins a year ago, the Eagles went 5-3 at the prestigious Texas Volleyball Invitational, sending them to 6-3 on the season.
“It was a really great showing for us,” coach Blair Greenwood said.
“It was a much-improved finish from what we did there last year. And the losses that we had were to Clear Creek, which finished as runner-up for the whole tournament, (Mission) Veterans Memorial, which ended up winning the silver bracket, and Aledo, which we had actually beaten the day before.”
The Eagles beat Aledo, a Class 5A state semifinalist last year, 26-24, 13-25, 25-22 in pool play before falling 25-13, 25-15 in the rematch.
They finished the tournament with a 25-15, 15-25, 25-19 win over College Station.
“It was big because we had a pour effort against Aledo the second time, and that was the match immediately following it,” Greenwood said. “So for our girls to get back out there and get a win was big.
“It was a team we lost to last year, and it was a great response to a bad match.”
Atascocita also defeated St. Stephens, Ridge Point and Keller in the Texas Invitational, and Stafford in its season opener.
“We had 12 wins last year and only one of them was against a playoff team, and this year we’ve already got six wins after one week, and four of those were against playoff teams (from last year),” Greenwood said.
The second-year coach said their hard work in the offseason is paying off early.
The Eagles still are a young group, with several sophomores in key roles, but they’re clearly making progress.
“This is only my second year here and we’re trying to change the culture of the program, but we also have some young talent that got a little bit of experience last year and now are excepting increased roles,” Greenwood said.
Senior setter Kaitlyn Smith is supplying the leadership.
Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Smith, Kaitlyn’s younger sister, lead the Eagles in kills at the tournament, and sophomore OH Kiersten Sniscak also is playing well early on, giving them a formidable attack.
Atascocita is at the New Braunfels tournament this weekend. It is in a pool with New Braunfels, Arlington and Austin Bowie.
“Nobody in the program has ever experienced an Atascocita playoff match at any level,” Greenwood said. “So the seniors are really committed to getting that done, and a lot of the young players are growing and getting stronger and getting better and gaining more confidence, so it’s an exciting future.”