By Tony Adams for Temple College
In college athletics, when you have athletes from many backgrounds, it takes time for chemistry and cultures to take hold.
As the Temple College Volleyball Team prepares to kick off the 2024 season, third-year Head Coach Rachel Melancon and returning players believe the chemistry and culture they say were lacking in 2023 are emerging this year as new leaders and new teammates step up.
The team travels Tuesday for a preseason game at Dallas College Richland.
(See the full schedule online.)
“I always say it takes three to five years to create your program,” Melancon said. “I feel we hit the three-year mark running and I’m looking forward to showing new development in the players and program, and standing on the foundation already set here at TC.”
Leadership emerges
Once the 2023 season ended and spring workouts began, the returners set the leadership tone and the culture shifted, the coach said.
“Spring season has become my favorite time of the year coaching at this level. I get to slow down and focus on the players’ major and minor issues individually and work one-on-one with fundamentals and techniques,” Melancon said. “During the spring season, I can get in their head and understand how they think, and these small groups and individual lessons make that possible- which helps prepare us for the upcoming fall season.”
The coach said her returning players have changed their mindset.
“In the past few weeks, they have shown some of the toughest mentality I have coached,” she said. “They are here to play hard and win as if they refuse to have another season like we did in the fall of 2023.”
Outside hitter Haley Tucker said team leadership emerged on the first day of practice.
“Once the first day of practice hit, we were the leaders,” Tucker said. “We are good at it and communicate well between one another. When we are helping each other out, we are not contradicting other sophomores or the coaches.”
When spring workouts ended, the team came out with a stronger bond and ready for the season ahead.
“To me, if players are asked what words define your team, every coach wants to hear the two words ‘leadership’ and ‘culture,’” Melancon said. “From day one this fall, our sophomores have stepped up in their leadership roles and have set high standards for our first-year students. Our returners made it clear that we will not have another season like we did previously.”
Returning middle blocker Nyla Lewis said spring was truly a time of renewal for the team.
“I think spring was very important because there was only six or seven of us,” Lewis said. “So, we had many conversations about how different we wanted it to be this year. Not only for the girls coming in, but for us as well.”
Connecting on the court
Tucker said she felt the team didn’t connect on the floor last season – something she said will change this year.
“That was one of our biggest struggles as to why we could not go further than we did,” Tucker said. “A lot of the players did not play the defense that we had, like the perimeter, and they were not used to switching between the two. Some of the players that were playing middle back had never played it before. So, it was hard for them to shift and react because the ball was not going to them.”
Lewis said there’s a different feeling all around.
“Personally, I feel more confident, stronger and smarter in my game,” she said. “Team wise, our confidence is better, and we are aggressive in the best way. We want to be able to incorporate everybody in everything and uplift everybody. We also want to reinforce what Mel is saying and what Mel is trying to get us to understand.”
Returning and new talent
The 2024 squad is loaded with returning talent.
“We have five returning sophomores. I did that on purpose and with reason,” Melancon said. “I had to sit and think about who could learn to lead, who would want to lead, and most importantly, who wanted to work harder to win. With that being said, I also had to choose girls who would trust me to make the changes needed. It was hard to play for me last season, and I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m not used to losing, but we all worked hard in our off-season to become better players, mentors, and for myself, a better coach.”
TC adds to their depth with sophomore transfer defensive specialist Courtnee Morgan, (formerly of Angelina College’s women’s basketball program). They also bring on board several defensive specialists in freshmen XanZhae Grigsby, Ally Jowers, Pauline Gonzales, Makayla Williams, Payton Koller and Riley Mendiola; freshman middle blocker Lana Wright; freshman setter McKinley Cole; and opposite side hitter Shelby Pugh.
“I’m thrilled and almost giddy with excitement about these incoming freshmen,” Melancon said. “They are allowing themselves to be led by our returners and, most importantly, they are extremely coachable. They want to get better at playing the game and learn more about how they can implement a strategy to compete at a higher level.”
“Last year, it took a while learn the drills,” Tucker said. “This year, once the freshmen were taught the drills, they nailed it on the first try. It was exciting.”
Flores said the mindset is more positive.
“The freshmen have been great. They have been willing to listen and have been very coachable. They have worked hard. We all do. We do not treat the freshmen like freshmen: we treat them like they are us. We are all the same and we are all respectful of one another.”
“Whenever we are in team drills, we get after each other to get better,” Lewis said. “We are competitive against one another, and yet, encouraging each other to get better at the same time.”
Coaching philosophy and preseason play
Katelyn Whelan is TC’s new assistant coach. Whelan has fit in well with Melancon’s coaching style and has been welcome addition for the Leopards.
“She has been good at trying to learn my system and show the players how important it is to be on the same page,” Melancon said. “We both believe this is the only way to be successful.”
The Leopards will play the road warrior role in the first month of the season. From Aug. 13 to Sep. 11, TC is scheduled to play 12 of their first 13 matches away from Temple.
The two featured tournaments that the Leopards will take part in will be the four-game Western Texas College Fall Classic in Snyder on Aug. 23-24 and four-game Odessa College Invitational Sept. 5-7.
“We have some extremely successful and ranked teams to play against while having some teams that match us in our style of play in athleticism and knowledge. This will make us earn the win,” Melancon said. “Every year, I try and preach to our players that earning the win is the only way at this level; you can no longer wish your opponent makes more mistakes than you.”
“I think that you are going to see a great deal of athleticism,” Lewis said. “We have many girls that can do many things. Libby (Flores) can dig a ball out from anywhere, she can set a ball, and she can get up and block. In preseason, we should do very well and are confident in how we will do.”
The preseason schedule also features eight games against Dallas College squads. The Leopards will play Richland three times, North Lake and Eastfield twice, and Mountain View once.
“Basically, the non-conference teams that we played last year we play this year,” Tucker said. “Some of them are some were at the top of their conferences last year. This year, I think that we will be more competitive.”
Temple College was ranked fourth in last week’s North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference preseason poll behind Weatherford, North Central Texas and Hill College. Ranger, Cisco, Vernon and Southwestern Christian were ranked behind the Leopards.
“It’s a good start and it shows that teams still believe in our talent and take us seriously,” Melancon said.
“The last volleyball banner Temple College has in the rafters is from 2012. I want to change that,” Lewis said. “I want us to be more heavy hitting, to go after everything, every ball, every play. We need to play aggressive and not timid.”
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