Plano East's Alison Sablick has argued her share of calls.
Highland Park's Libby Smith certainly doesn't agree with every
referee decision. They can relate to the judges though.
Volleyball is the only high school sport in which the
participants double as judges. Two referees makes calls from
each end of the net, but they receive help from the teams.
Players from each school, usually a member of the junior
varsity squad, stand at opposite corners of the court.
"It's always hard because everyone gets mad at the refs,"
Sablick said. "You just have to do the best you can."
That means paying attention. Smith admits, that's tough to
do during the dull matches. It also means drowning out the
cheers and jeers of a crowd gone wild over a call. After all,
a good call to one team is usually a bad call to another.
That's what makes the job so tough. Juggling loyalty to
teammates with the requirements of an honest call isn't easy.
"You have to learn to brush everything off," Smith said.
"But you worry more about seeing the ball right and making
your teammates mad at you."
Mesquite Poteet coach Lisa Lisewsky said she has pulled
players from matches for yelling at line judges. Lisewsky is
among several coaches who don't believe players should be put
in such situations.
Because there aren't enough referees to cover most of the
matches with the current system, she often turns to junior
high school coaches. Arlington coach Sue Cauley prefers to put
an adult on the line, especially during big matches.
"Kids are a bad choice because it puts too much pressure on
them," Cauley said.
Red Oak starts
new winning streak
Laurie Burrow and Tori Dacus each laid down
six kills Tuesday as Red Oak started a new district win streak
on with a victory over Terrell. The Class 4A power had a
winning streak of 139 district matches before forfeiting last
season's victories because of an ineligible player. The
forfeited matches brought an end to Red Oak's streak
officially at 129.
Greenhill coach
wins 300th game
Greenhill hit the road to find win No. 300 for head coach
Michelle McGuire. She hit the mark on Saturday as
Greenhill claimed a 15-9, 15-7 victory over Rockton, Ill., in
the Nike Challenge Preview. McGuire, in her 10th season at
Greenhill, has won at least 20 matches every year. She enters
Thursday's match against Hockaday with a record of 301-98.
Name: Kate Bailey
School: Irving Nimitz
Year: Junior
Achievement: Bailey posted 65 assists and two aces
last week while directing the Nimitz offense to a pair of
strong showings. Nimitz knocked off Carrollton Newman Smith on
Tuesday before defeating Carrollton Creekview on Friday in
District 8-5A.
