THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

The Odessa High volleyball team has been in transition for several years, struggling to find success during district play and searching for the right combination to put on the court each night. Coach Victoria Smith, now in her third season at the helm of the program, wants that to stop — now — and feels very confident that this year’s team is ready to turn the corner. “We are excited about the new season,” Smith said. “I’ve been pushing them to do better and better each day, not coasting, and they definitely are working hard and pushing themselves. “And I think they are going to continue to do that during the season. Especially the seniors, who know what they want this year.” The Lady Bronchos have six seniors on this year’s squad, led by outside hitter Adalia Elizondo and middle blocker Destiny Velasquez. Both were on the court last season when Odessa High went five sets to defeat rival Permian for the Lady Bronchos’ first district victory since 2012. Smith knows both have to be prominent figures this season, as well, on and off the court, for Odessa High to be successful. Also in the mix are junior setter Natalie Benavides and freshman setter Brianna McClure. They will be the ones given the task of running Smith’s offense to maximize the Lady Bronchos’ success, finding the right hitter in the right spot, at the right time, on each play. And they will have to mesh quickly with their hitters. The Lady Bronchos had summer tryouts on Aug. 1, posted the teams on Aug. 2, practiced Aug. 3 and then went to Andrews for a scrimmage on Friday and Monahans for three more scrimmages on Saturday. Today, Odessa High opens its 2017 season against El Paso Franklin and El Paso Chapin, at El Paso Franklin. Tuesday, the Lady Bronchos will travel to the Permian Duals to face Andrews and Pecos. Then, finally, on Wednesday, Smith will get a chance to put her squad though another practice to work on the things she saw during the scrimmages — from setter-hitter connections to serving. She also saw a lot to be happy about, particularly from her defensive specialists Cameron Rodriguez, Katrina Garcia, Janessa Ortega and Gabrielle Jaquez. “Our serve-receive is pretty solid and I thought we blocked well, especially in the last two sets (against Monahans and Wink),” Smith said. “We came out a little slow against Permian in the first scrimmage, so we have to change that, get them ready to go right away. “And our defensive specialists did a good job and we were rotating all four of them in to see which we want to use as our libero; we want someone to step out and prove to me that they deserve that spot. But we are excited and ready to go.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

ODESSA HIGH FINDS FRESH MINDSET AS VOLLEYBALL SEASON SET TO BEGIN

LEE SCHEIDE

Odessa American | 8/6/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Sterkel