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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, August 25, 1999
Different difficulties cost Eagles in losses
PECOS, Aug. 25, 1999 -- Pecos Eagles' coach Becky Granado hopes her volleyball
team took two different lessons out of two different losses on Tuesday,
to the Snyder Tigers and Midland Lee Rebels.
Playing in Midland, the Eagles won the first game of their match with
Snyder, 15-9, but lost the second, 15-5, and saw late game errors cost
them the deciding game, as the Tigers came away with a 15-12 victory.
In the second game, the Eagles ran into other problems, as they were
swept by the host Rebels, 15-7, 15-9, dropping them to 3-4 on the season.
"We had a good match against Snyder," Granado said. "Towards the end
of the third game it was 12-12 and we missed three serves back to back
to back. We just gave Snyder too many opportunities to beat us."
"Philly (Fobbs) had 39 sets to her and 11 kills, and I think that's
the most she's had, and our defense was much better, (than Saturday's games
at the Monahans Sandhills tournament)," Granado said. "We were picking
up more balls and not giving up as many easy shots as we used to."
However, Granado said the Eagles found out in the second game their
defense will have to be even better against good teams to succeed.
"When we got to Midland Lee we were in for a rude awakening. We had
a tough time with their little setter (Andrea Fryrear)," Granado said.
"She was good and our defense found out how slow we are.
"She would either do a quick set or a back set and Philly was having
a tough time getting to blocking position," the Eagles' coach added. "She
said she was having a hard time reading her, and I told them we're just
going to have to work on it."
"Our outside hitters are not that big. They might get their hands on
the ball (when blocking), so if Philly doesn't get over there to handle
the block the back defense is going to have to get over there and help."
Pecos led twice in the first game, at 2-1 and 4-2 before the Rebels
took control for their second win of the night and third straight win over
a Class 4A opponent (Big Spring being the other) after losing to San Angelo
Lake View in the semifinals of the Ector County ISD Tournament on Saturday.
Lee beat Snyder in three games to open play on Tuesday, 15-8, 16-18, 15-9.
"We have a long way to go, but I think playing Midland Lee was good
for them. They realized they have to be much quicker than they have been,"
Granado said.
Pecos' junior varsity did come away with a split of their games on Tuesday,
beating Snyder, 11-15, 15-7, 15-9, before losing to Lee, 16-14, 15-11.
Both the JV and varsity will return to play on Friday, with pool round
games at the Pecos Cantaloupe Classic Tournament.
The varsity will face El Paso Parkland, Greenwood and Wink in their
pool games, while the JV faces Monahans, Fort Stockton and Odessa Permian.
Pecos' freshmen purple team will be the only ones entered in their division
this year, which starts at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday with pool round games
against Alpine, Fort Stockton and Greenwood. The Eagles' freshman gold
team will be idle.
UTEP's Haskins ends 38-year career
By MICHELLE KOIDIN
Associated Press Writer
EL PASO, Aug. 25, 1999 — Don Haskins left one indelible mark on college
basketball.
The Hall of Fame coach, with 719 victories, took his team to the NCAA
tournament 14 times. He brought home seven Western Athletic Conference
championships.
But Haskins, who stepped down Tuesday after 38 years in charge of the
Texas-El Paso basketball team, will be remembered for a bigger accomplishment.
On March 19, 1966, he led the Miners to the NCAA championship, and he
started five black players — a first in the title game. Texas Western,
as UTEP then was known, upset the all-white, top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats
72-65.
At first, the decision meant a lot of hate mail for Haskins. But over
time, he would be revered as the man who broke down the color barrier in
college sports.
"When he was able to win that national championship against Adolf Rupp's
all-white team, it changed the look of the game forever," said Oklahoma
State's Eddie Sutton, who has coached college basketball for 29 years.
Haskins went on to finish with a 719-353 career record, putting him
10th on the victory list of college coaches. He remains the only men's
basketball coach to bring a national title home to Texas.
Now, after spending more than half his life coaching the Miners, Haskins
says it's time.
The 69-year-old, known affectionately to UTEP fans as "The Bear" for
his burly physique, says he's grateful for all his years at UTEP.
"How many people have been somewhere 38 years and been happy? Not many,"
he said in announcing his retirement at the Don Haskins Center, the arena
renamed for him in 1997.
"That's a miracle," added his wife, Mary, seated beside him.
His wife was misty-eyed throughout the announcement, but Haskins retained
a sense of humor.
When asked whether he has any regrets, he looked up, smiled and said,
"A hell of a lot. We haven't got time."
UTEP athletic director Bob Stull said a search will begin right away
for a new coach. "We're going to do a national search and try and find
a coach that can replace a legend," Stull said.
Haskins made it clear it was his decision to leave, and he's not being
forced out. The university offered to pay his salary for the next year,
which he accepted.
In the last few years, he has had to deal with a number of health problems.
He had a mild heart attack during a game in 1996, followed by triple-bypass
surgery. Earlier this year, he had a pacemaker implanted in his chest.
Haskins' career started as a student at Oklahoma A&M, where he played
for coach Henry Iba, another Hall of Famer. He was an unknown Texas high
school coach when Texas Western hired him in 1961.
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 news@pecos.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 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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