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THS sweeps in season opener

By Shawn Linenberger - | Sep 13, 2006

One might say the Tonganoxie High volleyball team came out a little cold Thursday.

No, not because the Chieftains were playing in their first matches of the season, but because they were playing in their renovated gymnasium for the first time. It’s a gymnasium that now has air conditioning, which kept the temperatures very cool.

THS, meanwhile, was far from chilly in its first night of competition.

The Chieftains improved to 3-0 on the season with two-game sweeps of Atchison, Bonner Springs and Baldwin.

THS dropped Atchison 25-17, 25-11; Bonner Springs, 25-20, 26-24; and Baldwin, 25-17, 25-11.

The Bonner Springs match concerned THS co-coach Tiffany Parker, as the Chieftains had to rally against their Kaw Valley League foe.

“We can’t spot teams seven points at the beginning of a match,” Parker said. “That’s something we’re going to keep working on.”

But victories are victories, and the Chieftains came away unscathed Thursday night.

“Obviously we performed well,” Parker said, noting the team also needed to relax a bit. “We came out so excited to play that it was almost hard to play. We tried to do too much at times.”

Parker said the team has some work to do, but the Chieftains also are working with a learning curve as coaches are implementing new blocking and defensive schemes.

Individually, Parker praised junior Sami Franiuk.

“I thought Sam Franiuk played well tonight,” Parker said. “She’s doing very well on the outside. She was very consistent.”

As for the Chieftains’ renovated home court, the floor color is lighter, the lights are brighter and that air conditioning is fully operational.

“It feels great, I’m not going to lie,” THS junior Shannon Carlin said about playing in the high school again. “It feels good to be back on our home court.”

Carlin also gave the venue high marks for renovations that also included balcony seating on the north side of the gym. The facility, which still must undergo some finishing touches, now has seating on all sides of the court.

“I like it because it’s bigger and it’s an all-around stadium,” Carlin explained. “It’s like college — fans anywhere.”