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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Tuesday, August 6, 2002
Eagles getting extra practice before openers
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Pecos Eagles' volleyball coach Becky Granado is happy to have
an extra week of preseason practice this year before the start of the
2002 schedule two weeks from today.
"It's been a while since we've had this, and its nice to be able to
work with them for two weeks before we have to play," said Granado,
whose team will be trying to advance to the playoffs for the seventh
straight season this fall.
However, making the playoffs last season was a struggle for Pecos,
and this season the Eagles figure to have tougher competition once district
play rolls around, despite dropping from Class 4A to Class 3A for 2002.
Pecos began last year by winning only four of their first 19 matches, then
went 10-4 to close out regular season play. They placed second in District
2-4A behind El Paso Mountain View, before falling to El Paso High in
the bi-district round of the Class 4A playoffs.
This season, the Eagles have four players returning on the
varsity squad, and Granado has 10 juniors and seniors overall in
preseason workouts, along with eight sophomores and 16 freshman.
"I'm going to see if we can put a team together with these
kids," Granado said of her 11th and
12th graders. "I'd like for the others to
stay together and get some playing experience and maybe when we
get towards the start of district if I feel some of them can help us I'll
move them up."
Height will again be a problem for Pecos this season, with no
player taller than 5-foot-7 on the front line. Granado can't do anything
about that, but she said she is trying to correct some other problems.
"Right now we're working on fundamentals _ setting and
passing," she said. "We're going to have
to depend on Jessica (Martinez) and Mindi (Harrison) to do most of
the middle work. If we can get Leslie (Rodriguez), Bre'Ann (Windham)
and Stephanie (Herrera) to be consistant in their hitting, we'll be OK."
"I feel like the strongest part of our game right now is defense,
with Marissa (Mendoza) and Maritza (Sandoval) on the back line,"
Granado said. "I feel like our weakest part
is setting. We need to find a setter who is willing to take charge."
Pecos' new district will feature three former district rivals
_ Monahans, Fort Stockton and Kermit _ along with Midland Greenwood
and Presidio. The Eagles will get to see all of those teams except
for Greenwood before the start of district play, and are scheduled to see
Fort Stockton, Kermit and Monahans next weekend, during scrimmage
games here and in Monahans.
Regular season play for Pecos opens on Aug. 20 with
matches against Odessa High and Alpine in Odessa.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail newsdesk@nwol.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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