Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian University, 2002 Page: 130
303 p. : ill. ; 32 cm.View a full description of this yearbook.
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High expectationsfall short
In perhaps his most famous song, "The Dance,"
country music legend Garth Brooks wove together a
lyric with a meaning understood by anyone who
ever worked towards a goal and yet fell short of making
that goal a reality. With a simple turn of a phrase,
Brooks sang a lament for all those who have seen joy
turn to sorrow, and laughter to tears. And especially in
the realm of sports, where there is only one eventual
champion and many fallen contenders, perhaps no one
understands more than athletes what it means to suffer
the pain and disappointment of loss, endured as payment
for sharing in the joy of the dance.
For the ACU Volleyball team, 2001 was a year in
which both the players and their coach would come to
understand the meaning behind the song that made
Brooks a superstar. Entering the year with high expectations,
the product of a fantastic 29-6 finish the previous
fall, the Wildcats would conclude their 2001 campaign
with the dance unfinished, the music having
stopped prematurely.
Going into the new season, head coach Brek Horn
set high goals for her team, goals that were shared
among her players. Despite losing only six games the
previous year, the Wildcats had failed to advance farther
than the Lone Star Conference Tournament in 2000.
So for Horn and her team, the goal for the new year was
obvious.
Anything less than securing a berth in the NCAA
Division II regional tournament would be a disappointment."We knew we were going to play a tougher schedule
in 2001 than we had the year before," Horn said.
"Because of that, equaling our record from 2000 would
be difficult, but we believed our team still had a better
chance of getting to the regional tournament than we'd
had in the previous year."
Few could make an argument against the Wildcat's
optimism. With six seniors playing out their final season, plus the emergence of sophomore Haylee Hartline
as a vital contributor, ACU had a team loaded with talent
and experience, a team that had tasted the sweetness
of victory in 2000 and that was hungry for more.
But playing in a tough conference alongside national
powerhouse West Texas A&M, having the right ingredients
would only be part of the formula necessary to
concoct a recipe for post-season success.
To make a run at the playoffs, the Wildcats would
also need a little good fortune on their side, and in 2001,
fortune failed ACU miserably. Three of the 'Cats best
players would suffer injuries that severely hampered
the team's attempt to secure a regional tournament bid.
Jennifer Purvis, a senior outside hitter who had helped
anchor ACU's front line since her arrival as a freshman
in 1998, suffered a season-ending injury when she tore
the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee. Meanwhile,
two of her fellow seniors, outside hitter Misti Germany
and middle blocker Lindsay DeHoff were forced to
play out their final seasons while suffering from
injuries that limited their effectiveness.
With three of her six seniors lost or slowed by injury,
plus the added burden of playing a tougher schedule,
Horn saw her team struggle to an 18-13 regular season
record, and a third-place finish in the Lone Star
Conference South Division. The Wildcat's would then
see their year officially end in the LSC post-season tournament,
with a three-game loss to No. 1 West Texas
A&M in the semifinals.
The conclusion of their 2001 campaign would leave
a bittersweet taste in the mouths of coach Horn and her
players. But despite falling short of their goals, both the
coach and her team could still take pride in their
accomplishments. Battling through adverse circumstances,
the Wildcat's had still managed to follow up a
phenomenal 2000 record with another winning season,
continuing to establish ACU as a force in Division II
volleyball. And even though they were forced to playNora Oglesby takes aim on the ball as she
prepares for the return.photo by Jonathan Grubbs
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Abilene Christian University. Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian University, 2002, yearbook, 2002; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth39886/m1/133/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.