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Saturday, December 1, 2007
Feel The Lovejoy
Collin County, TX
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By: Tim Polzer
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Photo(s) By: Chris Lamb
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Emotional bonding helped the young Lady Leopards win a district title in their first varsity campaign
Spending a few minutes on the Lovejoy High School campus will take you back to a better time. Everything, from the still shiny school building to the synthetic turf of the football field, appears fresh and clean. If it weren’t for all the green grass and red-and-black trappings, you’d swear you were in Pleasantville, the picture-perfect fictional town in the movie of the same name.
There’s something else that’s brand spanking new in Lovejoy – a district championship. The school can celebrate its first year of varsity athletics by raising its first district banners. The Lady Leopards volleyball team and the boys cross country team clinched district 9-3A titles on the same day. (Read more on the boys cross country team state performance in GamePlan on page 84??)
What’s surprising about the Lady Leopards’ accomplishment isn’t that their school is so new so much as they are so new to varsity competition. The team’s entire roster consists of eight sophomores and two freshmen.
Coach Ryan Mitchell, who was a head coach at Irving Nimitz and an assistant at Hebron, was aware of the team’s youth when he took the job two seasons ago, but he was attracted to Lovejoy just the same.
“I came from 4A and 5A ball, so I wasn’t that familiar with 3A schools. But I knew the area. I knew the talent level. These kids have fed the Allen [High] program for years and years, so I knew they loved playing volleyball and playing a good brand of volleyball.”
After an inaugural season in which Lovejoy played a freshman-only roster and a sub-varsity schedule, Mitchell and the Lady Leopards did not know what to expect in their first varsity season.
“I knew we were going to be good but I knew we would be very young. I didn’t know how youth would translate into losses,” Mitchell said. “But from the beginning, we didn’t talk about wins and losses, but how we could improve every single day.”
The lack of nearby 3A non-district opponents presented the Lady Leopards with another varsity debut dilemma in a schedule that included 4A and 5A teams in tournaments and matches. What could have been a defeating introduction to varsity competition turned into a rally cry for the Lady Leopards, who competed with and beat several larger schools in their non-district schedule. Lovejoy won first place in the Challenger’s Bracket of the Garland Tournament and another first in their division of the Denton Guyer Tournament.
“Instead of travelling the state to play 3A schools, because most that were close to us were in our district, I decided to play some 4A and 5A schools. I didn’t expect to win as much as we did, but it seemed that every time we beat one of those opponents, the confidence grew in the girls,” Mitchell said. “We were determined to not make youth be our crutch, but rather a motivating factor. The girls wanted our opponents to take them for granted.”
Early on, the Lady Leopards rode the offensive skills of outside hitters freshman Natalie Puckett and sophomore Lauren McDaniel. Puckett was voted District 9-3A Newcomer of the Year and McDaniel was elected first-team all-district.
Mitchell also relies on his two captains who are the Lady Leopards’ setters, sophomores Tyler Bradsher and Brennan Roehrig.
“They’ve been the emotional leaders of the team. I meet with them once a week for captains’ meetings. They present the stuff that I want us to work on and achieve as a team,” Mitchell said.
With those four players serving as the team’s nucleus, the Lady Leopards received a boost from middle blocker Courtney Ray, who also earned a first-team all-district selection.
“I’ve really had some kids step up and contribute,” Mitchell said. “Courtney has lit a fire under us and really led our team statistically throughout the playoffs.”
So how does a team of freshmen and sophomores, possessing little in varsity competition, win a district title in its first season? Mitchell believes the closeness and harmony his girls share has helped them get through the challenges and maintain consistency. It seems that all is pleasant in Pleasantville.
“That’s the neat thing about these girls. They’re really a close-knit unit. They seem to really love each other,” Mitchell said. “I haven’t had one player meeting, one intervention, one sit-down talk with kids about in-fighting. That just hasn’t happened. And it’s been good because it separates us from the schools with more experience. It gives us another edge because we don’t have experience. We have to rely on our closeness to help push us through.”
The Lady Leopards’ emotional bonds were fortified by an even larger support group comprised of Lovejoy fans and boosters. Crowds flocked to the volleyball games and used the school’s first varsity events as a rallying point to build support for all of its athletic and extra-curricular programs.
“They’ve really gotten behind the volleyball team. It’s been really neat to see the crowd and administration there. The school board and principals have been to our games. Them being excited about it is even better for the girls,” Mitchell said.
After running off nine consecutive wins and a 13-1 district record, Lovejoy produced another first: the school’s first playoff victory against Kennedale. After winning their second round match against Commerce, the Lady Leopards’ dream season finally ended at the hands of White Oak in the Region II semifinals.
Finishing 32-8-2 in year one and going 1-for-1 in district championships has definitely raised the bar at Lovejoy. When the Lady Leopards raise their first banner in the school gym, perhaps they can entertain dreams of what would be the ultimate Pleasantville moment – the school’s first state title.
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