Southwest High School - Sachem Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

Page 31 text:

i r

Page 33 text:

voi try call If nil the yenr were ploying holidays, lo sport would he as tedious as to work. William Shakespeare FIRST ROW: Carolyn Getinno STCONO ROW: I oShun Bozeman TM1R0 ROW: Melinda McDonald, Lisa Tate, Tracy Smalls FOURTH ROW: Candra Ruffin Our 1906-87 spikin' volleybollers worked hard throughout their season, practicing four hours daily during their pre-season. When the official season began the team started off as expected: winning some, losing some. The players were just ordinary friends each school day but then out on the court they became a team. Southwest has had a girls' volley- ball team for thirteen years, placing four times in the Interscholastic League Championships. Southwest has placed from first to fifth; this year's team tied Southeast for fourth place. This year's team find five experi- enced senoir players. They were: Carolyn Gettino, Candra Ruffin, Traci Smalls, and Crystal Walker. The new players were: Lashun Bozeman, Stacy Brown, Renita Goff, Stephanie Howard, Kimberly Robinson, Stacy Stewart, Lisa Tate, and Hallarie Walker. Although these new players were unexperienced, they played with talent and promise for next year's team. Since 1989 the Southwest volleyball team has had a new coach each season, and this year was no exception. The new coach was Diane Stevenson who came to Southwest from Central High School. At Central she sponsored cheerlending and coached volleyball and football for fifteen years. Coach Stevenson was a dedicated coach and worked to pull the players together into a team. She often reminded the «girls that they were not individuals but that they were jelled together to play as a team. She always encouraged the team;, when things seemed hopeless and the team was losing a game, Coach Steven- son would tell the girls: Don't give up I ill the fat lady sings . The players on the team seemed to get along well and became quite close friends. They supported each other both on and off the court. Before each gome the team would pray reciting the Lord's Prayer. During time outs the girls displayed their spirit by raising one finger in the air, a sign to represent they were the ffl team. Each girl would try to get her finger to the top. The team's sweetest victory was when they defeated our rival, Southeast, in the last league gome. During the District Championships, Southwest lost to Southeast in one gome, but was victorious over them in another.During the winning game the team relied on their Doak strategy. This was where a player would psyche out the opponent and act like she was going to spike the ball when she was actually only planning on lightly tipping it. This would trick the opponents and catch them off guard. Their victory over Southeast placed Southwest in a tie with them for fourth place in the Interscholastic League. The Injun team had a rewarding, fun- filled year volleying around. South- west had two All-St8r players Carolyn Gettino and Melinda McDonald. The team finished the season with a record of 6-12. 29