Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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ethacks , retu . Teamwork the key, as Senior Rosemary Struffolino f2Zj, covered by junior jen- nifer Williford fi3j spikes the ball to Westchester in the district play-off, After a hesitant start in district competition Sept. 7, and medi- ocre play in three tournaments, var- sity volleyball took a crucial turn and finished the season in the district play-offs. It really surprised me to find us in the play-offs, since we were com- ing into the season with a new coach. I thought we would be stuck somewhere in the middle instead of coming out on top, said Rosemary Struffolino, senior. There wasn't any one thing that really motivated us to put our minds to winning and achieve the play-off berth, added Senior Rachel Hill. We just decided that this was it, and we were going to make it. The first two weeks of practice, before the initial scrimmage, were somewhat hampered by the facts that the volleyball program had two new coaches, Mrs. NeVada Brim- berry, varsity, and Mrs. Karen Mar- tin, junior varsity, and the fact that tryouts were held for all three teams, since the previous coaches had not already chosen varsity and junior varsity members. In addition, these delayed tryouts shortened the necessary pre-season period in which the individual teams established an effective line- Waiting for the serve, junior Tatiana Fri- erson U75 keeps her eye on the oppo- nents. up and rotation, which led to deciding factor, teamwork. l'm the fourth coach that tr girls have had, and it was not I the other coaches were bad. lt's that they had different philosopl than I do. It was hard for the girl play as a team for me, because! 'lt was hard fo. the girls to plaj as a team for, me.' W just hadn't gotten to know el other that well, commented Col Brimberry. Before district play, varsity parl pated in two tournaments, the C Creek Tournament and the Sp Branch Tournament. Although el inated from both tournaments Lamar Consolidated, the team itself on the winning side of bracket in both. During the first half of di play, the Spartans obtained a d -l-3 record, losing to Westc Alief Hastings, and Memorial. ju jennifer Williford summed up problem by saying, We doomed with inconsistency. 130 varsity volleyball

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'ling a time out, Coach George Saenz es advice to Freshmen Tom Gabriel- , Russ Hart, Bob Briscoe and Mark ison. According to Mark, He'd call a 'e out when we started messing up, l he'd tell us not to shoot from 15 tout. B m agreed they played a good ne and only lost by six points. huring the games, the boys re encouraged and coached Coach George Saenz. Accord- to the team's leading scorer, arria, When we were nerv- he'd calm us down and he'd ourage us when we were ind. I would tell them how adjust to the other team's nse and defense explained ch Saenz. he two favorite games ording to the players were the morial and Westchester The last West- chester game was the best.' es. Bob Briscoe explained the orial game by saying, Dur- the first three quarters we got ind by about 20. ln the 4th we a fantastic come-back to hin 2 points, but unfortu- ly lost by 4. Al Sarria said twinning their first game inst Westchester was a big lI. B teamer lim Root com- ted, The last Westchester e was the best. We had ten them before and wanted eat them twice. lthough the game of basket- appears simple when watch- some of the players, AI Sarria lained, lt takes a lot of work. really have to want to go out e and play. It takes a lot of rminationf' ith a record that was only age, the team agreed it has for improvement. Bob Bris- stated, We have got great ential for years to come. I k we'Il have a great team in Q-4 Taking the ball down the court, Fresh- man Al Sarria l43J attempts to outdrib- ble the opposing player. Coach George Saenz commented, Al was one of my starters and played a pretty decent game of basketball. y ,I g n Z -f . ur. I2 v i Blocked by two opposing players, Fresh- man Peter Kosmoski attempts a much practiced jump shot. Peter enjoyed playing basketball because he liked the teamwork and the way we all played together. freshman basketball 129

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g ting for the district title, Senior Ste- anie Bross 4243 spikes the ball to stchester. The Spartans fell to the ldcats, and finished second in district petition. er played real well or we didnt the Cy-Fair tournament, the team s plagued with inconsistent play, lost during the second round of consolation competition. eginning the second round of trict play, the Varsity suffered a eat by Alief Elsik, which proved e a turning point for the team. We were just beating ourselves, everybody started to think 'win', 'l the team came together, and 1 just on the court. All we had to ,was beat Westchester, and we 'ld beat anyone, explained emary. 'ln the Westchester match, each us had one game, and the final ne came down to the wire, con- .ied Rosemary. We were losing, , we had their star spiker on the ck row and someone served put four or five balls to her, they Jldn't handle them, and they lost iir confidence and unity, and we Esqueaked by. hus the Varsity ended the sec- d round as the champions, and ned a play-off berth with West- ?ster, the first-half winners. How- er, the third match with West- ster ended in defeat, Rosemary orated, We choked. During the - Ck I. ,.,. L. .. first game we had a good margin, and we slacked off. We were lucky to win that game. Then, I think we became intimidated by the crowd and the opposing players, and we began to play cautiously instead of with confidence and power, Since we had never been in this situation, it just became overbearing, and Westchester, with the two previous district crowns, became alert and dominated the rest of the match. The Varsity finished the season Nov. 14 with a TO-4 district record, and three members were named to the All-District team. Elected by the other district team coaches, the girls were: Seniors Stephanie Bross and Rosemary Struffolino, and junior lenniferWilliford, 14-fwfr W,.'vewnum.,.:..,.w.,.,,g K as 3 :fix Q - .,..,f..-.. - if From the back line, junior lennifer Wil- liford 1135 takes the first hit on the return ofserve. Vaf5lYY volleyball 131