Volleyball: Impressive 3A coaches gather at Clinic

The power brokers of Class 3A volleyball were in full effect at the Third Annual Basin's Best Volleyball.

Of the 18 Class 3A state champions crowned in Texas since 1990, 14 were represented by their coaches on Saturday's docket in the Odessa High Fieldhouse.

Bellville especially dominated the 1990s under head coach Susan Brewer, whose Brahamanettes played in every Class 3A final from 1990-97 - winning six of those eight championship matches.

Wimberley has since shifted gears into the team that the 3A title usually goes through under head coach Lee Grisham. Wimberley has won six titles since earning its first in 1999 and heads into the 2008 season as the two-time defending winner.

Monahans, under head coach Patty Dominguez, also has played its way into the conversation by reaching the 3A state tournament in five of the last six seasons. The Lady Loboes won the crown in 2004 and has finished as the runner-up team three other times, including a five-game loss to Wimberley last fall and a five-game loss to Bellville in 2005.

Grisham, Brewer and Dominguez were three of Saturday's six speakers, though they could have been excused for leaving all the hardware in their respective gyms.

"This is a huge lineup," said Brewer, who is heading into her 32nd season as Bellville's head coach. "Personally I was invited, but I'm so glad I was in attendance. It's funny because I've known a lot of these coaches and a lot of the towns out here (in the Permian Basin), but being out here for the first time has been very exciting.

"It's just neat. Texas is so big and there's all the regional differences, so it's kind of nice to be out here and see these people."

Dominguez said she was a little bashful about being part of such a lineup, which also included leading Class 5A and 4A coaches, though Midland Lee coach Diane Sandoval quickly told Dominguez know how much she thinks listening to the Monahans coach will help her Class 5A team.

The clinic was organized again by Odessa High head coach Linda McMillan, who Dominguez credited for helping improve the sport in the Permian Basin.

"Linda does a fantastic job of getting these people here," Dominguez said of the state's best coaches. "I wish more people would take advantage of it. They don't realize the quality of people you had in here. I could listen to (Austin Westlake coach) Al Bennett talk all the time. There was a lot of good volleyball in here."

Dominguez also enjoyed a chance to visit with Brewer over lunch and visited earlier in the day with Grisham, whose team wrested away the championship her Lady Loboes almost won about nine months ago.

Wimberley also beat Monahans in the Class 3A state final in 2003, though the Lady Loboes might get an earlier chance at revenge since Wimberley was moved into Region I for the next two seasons. That means the teams would be matched up in the regional tournament at Lubbock instead of at the state level.

"We have a mutual respect for each other," Dominguez said of Grisham and the two programs. "We know more about each other than we're willing to give up. It's a little song-and-dance routine that we do, but we have respect for each other. I know he's going to, regardless that it's in Lubbock, be prepared at that point and ultimately we have to be, also."

>> PARTING NOTE: McMillan thanked three sponsors who have been with the Clinic since its inception in 2006 -- Jason's Deli, Athletic Supply and Sports Imports out of Ohio.

She also expressed gratitude to the nine speakers - those coming from as close as UTPB's Steve Aicinena and Monahans' Dominguez to Bellville's Brewer, Westlake's Bennett and Houston Cy-Fair's Donna Benotti coming from far distances - and those who attended to hear what they had to say.