Fall Sports/Girls Volleyball  

(9/4/01) After two seasons without more than 30 wins (25-in ’99 & 24 in ’00), the Greenhill girls volleyball program seems poised to regain its title as the area’s top private school volleyball team for the 2001 season. Thus far, the Hornets have finished in the top eight at the Arlington Invitational Tournament, defeated four 5A schools at the Northwest Tournament and were the runner-up at the Garland High School Tournament in late August. Greenhill defeated Dallas Christian and Fort Worth Christian, the only two private schools it has faced this season, 15-11, 15-1 and 15-5, 15-11 respectively.

Head Coach Michelle McGuire (262-85 at Greenhill) has seen her teams in a similar position before. Seven times in the past nine years Greenhill has finished the season as Southwest Preparatory Conference runner-up and posted 30 plus wins each season. McGuire attributes this year’s success to the closeness that her team shares in addition to the work they did in the off-season to prepare. “Every kid in this program, JV and varsity, either participated in off-season volleyball or attended an eight-week strength and conditioning program,” McGuire said. “Their success so far this season is a direct product of their effort.”

McGuire also notes that the smaller number of players on her team allows them to form a bond that hasn’t always existed in the past. She said, “We have done a number of activities to help with team unity, such as a ropes course, team lunches and dinners, and spending entire evenings together as a group.”

This past weekend, the players and coaches spent a total of about 30 hours in two days together. “We were at the Arlington Tournament all day Friday and Saturday, to dinner and to watch the SMU and Duke volleyball teams play,” McGuire said. Greenhill volleyball alumna Ashley Harris (’97) is the starting middle blocker and lone captain for the Blue Devil’s volleyball team.  McGuire continued, “Ashley played well, the kids had fun and I enjoyed meeting her coach Jolene Nagel. Coach Nagel said Ash has been a great leader for her team that made the NCAA tournament last year. We are very proud of what she has accomplished at that level. It sets an example for the current players that aspire to play at the collegiate level.”

Among those players are sophomore Elizabeth Barnwell who leads the Hornets in four statistical categories including kills (235), blocks (54), aces (48) and attack percentage (.414). Junior Autumn Erickson is off to another strong offensive and defensive year, with 220 kills and a team-leading 178 digs. She is also averaging four kills per game while hitting .330. Greenhill’s lone senior Lauren Schanbaum is responsible for much of the offensive success these hitters are having as the team’s setter. She has 589 assists on the season, which has her averaging just over 11 assists per game. She has been an All-Conference selection the past two seasons and is on stride to repeat this season.

Greenhill’s schedule will not get much easier, as the team prepares to participate in the Nike Challenge Preview in Chicago in mid-September. “At 15-9 on the season, I think the team understands that the record is not as important as the valuable experience we gain by playing against some of the top teams in the state,” McGuire said. The Hornets should be ready for conference competition when it rolls around, as the team has not dropped a North Zone match the past seven years.