Lehman setter Vikki Smith and her Lady Lobo teammates are excited about summer workouts beginning with new head coach Megan Griffin. The Lady Lobos scrimmage August 6 at Canyon Lake High and August 9 at Del Valle before opening the season with the Austin ISD Tournament August 12. (Photo by Jason Gordon)
by JASON GORDON
Megan Griffin wasn’t nervous as she opened her first two-a-day camp as Lehman’s head volleyball coach Monday morning.
“I’m more excited than I am jittery,” Griffin said. “Tryouts are always tough for coaches and players, but it’s a great time to be associated with this program. We have a lot more kids to choose from than we did last year.”
Lehman had just under 50 girls come out for volleyball this year, and Griffin said she anticipates having to cut approximately a total of seven to shore up the freshman, junior varsity and varsity rosters.
She said she plans on having 11 or 12 girls on varsity this season.
“The first day of practice is always a busy day,” Griffin said. “It seems like we haven’t stopped going yet. I’m very happy with what I’ve seen so far out of our team. A couple of girls really improved their conditioning since last year.”
Griffin singled out middle blocker Lauren Ayala and twins Vicki and Alex Smith as three players who she could tell really worked hard over the summer.
“Lauren has really worked on conditioning and I’m very proud of her,” Griffin said. “Vicki and Alex are two that really take pride in everything they do. They compete with their teammates and each other, and that’s a positive for this team.”
Griffin said over the next couple of weeks she hopes to watch her team bond.
“I hope we really get in sync,” Griffin said. “I want to see them bond right away as a team. Last year, we had a lot of cliques and that hurt us. We need to treat each other like a family.”
Alex Smith agrees with her new head coach.
“For some reason it seemed like we were all separated in the past,” Smith said. “I think if our team plays together we will be a lot better.”
Smith said she and her teammates are also enjoying learning from Griffin, a former All-Conference player at Miami-Ohio University.
“We definitely have a lot of respect for Coach Griffin,” she said. “She knows a lot about volleyball. We just try and listen and soak up her wisdom.”
Lehman scrimmages August 6 at Canyon Lake High and August 9 at Del Valle before opening the season with the Austin ISD Tournament August 12. The Lady Lobos’ home opener is August 19 against Cedar Ridge.
