Set in stone

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: October 25, 2016

Jacksonville coach Clark made one of his best coaching moves “in a while” elevating Thomas to full-time setter and the team has been on a roll ever since

Jacksonville coach David Clark (R) and senior Tatiyana Thomas discuss the finer points of setter play after a recent practice.

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By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

JACKSONVILLE – David Clark has made countless moves as Jacksonville’s volleyball coach, but the best one he’s made in a long time has the Lady Golden Eagles on the cusp of another state championship.

The Lady Eagles started the season with a two-setter rotation. Sixteen matches in Clark had seen enough of that. He went with one full-time setter and the team has been virtually unbeatable since.

They go into Wednesday’s Class 4A state quarterfinal against county rival Saks at Birmingham’s Crossplex 43-11. They are 34-4 since senior Tatiyana Thomas became the full-time setter.

“Last year I made a change that helped us, (but) I waited too long, so I learned from that,” Clark said. “I made this one a lot earlier so it had a chance to be a bigger impact. I think the move this year really was one of the best I’ve made in a while.”

Clark has long favored a 5-1, one-setter system; it helps, he said, with the overall consistency of play as the hitters can expect the same ball delivery on the attack. “Circumstances,” however, don’t always allow that to happen.

The Lady Eagles had a lot of new elements coming onto the team this year and didn’t really get a good look at everything they needed in the summer, so Clark wanted to explore the approaches with Thomas and Brooke Murphy setting early in the season. What kept coming back was an inconsistency in their attack.

“It wasn’t a fault of either setter, it was just the nature of the game – they set a different ball,” Clark said. “I think the biggest change was both of them were willing to accept a new role and go into their new one all in, not worry about themselves, but more worried about team.

“Once they accepted it – and it was right off the bat – we just seemed to settle down, start feeling comfortable with the people around us and everything just started to work.”

They made the move after a tri-match with Oxford and Chelsea that left them 9-7 on the season. The Lady Eagles first used it Sept. 13 against Boaz and since then their only losses have come to James Clemens (Sept. 22), Guntersville (Oct. 8), Geraldine the last weekend of the regular season and Madison Academy in the 4A North regional championship match.

“I’m glad I made the decision, it seems to have made a lot of difference,” Clark said. “You can’t be too proud; sometimes you’re wrong. To be a good coach you have to realize those times too where it wasn’t right and it was my job to make it right.”

Actually the move impacted every position on the floor. It allowed Murphy to focus on her defense and serving. Caitlyn Ryan moved from the right side to left, shoring up that side defensively. It gave hitters Sierra Stone, Elizabeth Poe and Aniyah Robinson confidence knowing the kind of ball to expect from their setter.

And with Thomas front row center and now never leaving the floor, the Lady Eagles get more balls they might not have otherwise, get more blocks at the net and keep her in the serving rotation. And it opened a lot more options with the bench.

Feeding tall and powerful teammates like Stone, Poe and Robinson, Thomas regularly delivers 20 assists or more every match.

“We just had to get on the same tempo and he put us to where it worked out,” Thomas said. “When he changed it, I felt like it was a better tempo, our game setting got better and we were together more.

“It made me a whole lot better, more vocal; I like it,” she said. “I’ve improved a whole lot since the beginning. I realized the responsibility a setter has now. Last year he put in a two-setter rotation where I played the front row. I knew what to do but it didn’t really affect me until my senior and I was a full-time setter. I just took on a whole lot more responsibility and realize how important it is and how I have to keep everybody up.”

STATE ELITE EIGHT
(Wednesday’s brackets involving Calhoun County teams)

CLASS 1A (Finals, Thursday, 8 p.m.)
Game 1 — S1 Isabella (36-3) vs. N4 Sacred Heart (24-24), 9:30 a.m.
Game 2 — N2 Addison (40-11) vs. S3 Pleasant Home (21-7), 9:30 a.m.
Game 3 — N1 Decatur Heritage (43-10) vs. S4 Kinston (17-14), 2 p.m.
Game 4 — S2 Ragland (23-16) vs. N3 Donoho (33-17), 2 p.m.
Game 5 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7:30 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7:30 p.m.

CLASS 4A (Finals, Thursday, noon)
Game 1 – S1 St. James (33-10) vs. N4 Deshler (42-13), 9:30 a.m.
Game 2 — N2 Jacksonville (42-11) vs. S3 Saks (33-20), 9:30 a.m.
Game 3 — N1 Madison Academy (42-20) vs. S4 Andalusia (20-15), 12:30 p.m.
Game 4 – S2 Alabama Christian (32-16) vs. N3 Danville (37-23), 12:30 p.m.
Game 5 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 5:30 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 5:30 p.m.

CLASS 5A (Finals, Thursday, 10 a.m.)
Game 1 — S1 St. Paul’s (41-7) vs. N4 Guntersville (30-28), 8 a.m.
Game 2 — N2 Lawrence County (45-13) vs. S3 Briarwood Christian (19-22), 8 a.m.
Game 3 — N1 St. John Paul II (38-26) vs. S4 Rehobeth (31-9), 12:30 p.m.
Game 4 — S2 Faith Academy (24-17) vs. N3 Alexandria (46-9), 12:30 p.m.
Game 5 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 3:30 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 3:30 p.m.

CLASS 6A (Finals, Thursday, 4 p.m.)
Game 1 — S1 Spanish Fort (56-4) vs. N4 Oxford (40-17), 9:30 a.m.
Game 2 — N2 Hartselle (67-11) vs. S3 Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (44-6), 9:30 a.m.
Game 3 — N1 Hazel Green (53-10) vs. S4 Blount (14-8), 12:30 p.m.
Game 4 — S2 Daphne (36-11) vs. N3 Walker (55-11), 12:30 p.m.
Game 5 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 5:30 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 5:30 p.m.