Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
West’s first captain enjoys second run
CENTERTON — The second time around has been a much better experience for Bentonville West’s first volleyball captain.
Lauren Hawks, one of two seniors on West’s roster this season, will complete her duties as the team’s leader when the Lady Wolverines head to Conway for the Class 7A state tournament next week.
“Things are so much better this year,” Hawks said. “I know how to handle the girls, and they respect me this year, where last year everybody thought they were on the same field. Now it’s like we have more Indians and less chiefs. That was the problem — nobody knew who was in charge.
“It’s weird that it’s winding down. I want to finish it strong.”
West coach Julie Rowan said one of the first things she did after she was hired in March 2016 was to have a meeting with Hawks. It was then when Rowan announced Hawks would be the team’s first captain, and she believed Hawks was ready for such a role.
While Rowan had total confidence in her new player, Hawks admitted she “totally panicked” after hearing the news.
“Over at Bentonville, the seniors are the team captains,” Hawks said. “They’re in control of the team. They’re the older players and the ones with the more experience. Then I come over here, and there were no seniors, so I have to step up and be that person.
“The beginning was rough, for sure. The coaches definitely taught us a lesson during one practice and showed us what a captain should do and shouldn’t do. Because of that, I finally started entering the role of captain and it completely changed how I acted toward my teammates and how I presented myself in practice.”
It was also during that meeting when Hawks told Rowan that if she needed to do it, she would drive teammates to a gym for practice when Bentonville West’s campus was still under construction or do anything it took to make the team successful.
While she won over Rowan with her willingness to lead the team, Hawks found out that winning over her new teammates was going to be a little more difficult.
“Once we started taking some knocks, I think she got a little disillusioned,” Rowan said. “Although you think you know in your mind what you’re getting into, I think it was a little daunting when things got started. She thought it was going to be not as hard as it ended up being.
“Our team was predominantly sophomores, and there was just a handful of juniors. All those sophomores had played together at Bentonville Gold the previous year. They were comfortable with one another, but not with our juniors because they hadn’t played together. So it took a while to get some chemistry between them, and you can’t have leaders if you don’t have followers.”
That all changed this season as Hawks solidified her captain’s role. She chose to do it by example while she also worked on her game, with her biggest improvement coming on serve receive as she shared the libero/defensive specialist role with Shea O’Brien.
It didn’t take long for Rowan to notice how much more respect the Lady Wolverines showed their captain this fall.
“Now, I think those girls would run through a wall for her,” Rowan said. “They have a strong respect for her. They know how level-headed she is and how smart she is in the classroom and on the court. They look to her for everything.
“If they are having problems with relationships or in the classroom or on the team, she’s the first person they run to. That speaks a lot with how well she has got them to trust her.”