Wallace, Concordia open seasons in Patriot Classic
Published 4:01 pm Saturday, August 24, 2013
Concordia’s Nashilia Bethunn blocks the volleyball at the net as Wallace Community College Selma’s Courtnee Golphin and Destiny Green react from the other side of the net. Both sets in the match between the Hornets and Patriots were close, but Wallace broke free to win the match 25-21, 25-28.–Daniel Evans
With very little experience returning, Wallace Community College Selma head coach April Harper had no idea what to expect when her team stepped on the court Saturday for play in the first annual Patriot Classic.
In the early minutes of the Patriots first game, it was clear that she should be excited by the results.
Although Wallace has only three sophomores returning — resulting in a very young team — the Patriots looked sharp from the opening seconds of the match, taking advantage of Concordia mistakes and limiting their own in a victory in the tournament’s opening match.
Wallace won 25-19, 25-21 in a best of three set match against the Hornets.
“I am extremely ecstatic that my team was able to finish Concordia, which is a four year school, in two games — which is a pleasant surprise for me,” Harper said. “The defense was there. We made a few offensive errors, but at this point I can’t complain.”
The Patriots have not even scrimmaged this year, with practices focused around learning fundamentals.
“This is like going in cold turkey. The team is young. This is only our third week practicing,” Harper said. “You can do the best you can do at practice to tell them what they need to do, but you really don’t know how it is going to unfold until it actually happens.”
New Concordia head coach Brandon Reeves looked at the tournament as more of a scrimmage for his team, since the Hornets have only had three practices.
At this point, he is looking to get his team some on-court time.
“It was an average performance,” Reeves said about his team’s loss to Wallace. “We are still gelling. We’ve had about three practices right now, which put us behind a little bit.”
Concordia is also young, starting four freshman. Reeves thinks once the team gets to know one another, the results will improve.
“We’ve got to get in the gym. We’ve got to practice,” Reeves said. “We’ve got to build up team chemistry. Once we build up team chemistry, we are going to be a good team.”
The tournament also included Lawson State and Southern Union.
