Maria Aikins will see several new faces as Allen Community College prepares for what promises to be a rough-and-tumble volleyball season this fall.
The Red Devils sport 11 newcomers, while returning only three regulars from 2023, Aikins noted.
That means getting familiar with each player’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the athletes buying into Aikins’s philosophies as Allen takes on some of the best junior college programs in the country.
If that sounds familiar, it’s the exact script Aikins followed last fall, when she was hired only a few weeks before the start of the season.
“It really felt like our hair was on fire,” Aikins laughed.
In the span of about three days, Aikins and husband James — who also serves as an assistant coach with Allen — had packed their belongings from their home in Hutchinson, where they relocated to Thayer, James’s hometown, and stayed with his parents as they searched for a home.
“We commuted back and forth each day,” she noted. “It was definitely a learning experience.”
As could be expected, the team had a lackluster start to the season.
The Red Devils dropped four in a row and were standing at 3-6 at one point.
“I’m not gonna lie,” she said. “It was a little rough the first couple of days.”
But two things pulled them through, she noted. The Red Devils stayed confident and consistent in their approach.
“We had to build team camaraderie and we made a lot of changes the first few weeks,” she said. “It was like a Chinese fire drill until we found what worked.”
Allen picked up steam through the balance of the season, going 17-3 at one point, before knocking off favored Kansas City, Kansas, to open postseason play.
“Mentality wise, the players responded well,” she added. “They all wanted to be successful and good as a unit. That’s what helped us be successful.
“Our motto was proving people wrong,” she said. “It was good to go in as an underdog.”
