Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

Senior Helps Spark Success for Lady Jaguars

FMHS Volleyball

By John English

Contributing Writer

Among the leaders on this year’s Flower Mound volleyball team is middle blocker Kristen Rice, a player who coach Marci Brinkman said should help get the Lady Jaguars to the postseason for the third consecutive season.

Rice said she feels this year’s team is very strong and said she believes it can go even further than last year’s area-round appearance.

"Kristen is one of our strongest offensive players," Brinkman said. "She is a middle blocker and a senior, so she offers a lot of leadership. She is a positive role model for all of the girls in the program."

Brinkman said the Flower Mound senior also gets the job done on the floor.

"She’s athletic, and that’s what makes her such a good middle," Brinkman said. "She’s able to work with bad sets and turn them into good plays ... she’s definitely a good player for us."

Rice said, more than anything statistics-wise, she tries to bring the right mental attitude to the court and lead by example.

"I just try to be positive and bring everyone together," Rice said. "We haven’t played together that much, so I want to keep everyone optimistic and get some team unity."

Rice said she has two goals for the coming season, one that is individual and one for the Lady Jaguars as a squad.

"Personally, I want to become a better all-around better player," Rice said. "I am pretty good at the net, but I want to become better defensively. As a team, I just want to go further than we did last year in the playoffs. We have improved every year since I have been here, and I just want to continue that trend."

The Flower Mound senior said she has another major passion in her life, which is something that she said has helped her immensely in many facets of volleyball.

"Most people would not know that I do Girl Scouts," Rice said. "We’re working towards our Gold Award right now, and it’s really fun, because it’s a group of girls, and we have sleepovers and just have fun and do little projects. It’s an easy and fun way to help out the community ... it’s helped me with volleyball in a lot of ways, because in Girl Scouts, you learn to work together, work as a team, solve problems and talk things out."

Rice is also a high jumper on the Flower Mound track team, and has not yet decided on where she will attend college because she is not sure whether she wants to play volleyball or run track at the next level.

The Flower Mound senior said she believes that the Lady Jaguars are definitely capable of making the playoffs this season, but said it will take a couple of factors to make that happen.

"We have to connect more and become closer as a team," Rice said.

Brinkman said Rice is player she will rely on for leadership this season, and said she feels certain that her middle blocker will be a big part of any success the Lady Jaguars enjoy.

"She is very important in terms of just adding that extra spark to get people going," Brinkman said. "She gets that kill and gets excited, and I think that helps her teammates get pumped up about the game. She’s an integral part of the team."