Allen Community College’s volleyball team is all too familiar with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Red Devils, like nearly all of the junior college-level athletics, had the start of their season pushed back from last fall to January. Their season opens tonight.
Likewise, Allen’s fall semester was filled with quarantines, disrupted practices and missed school time because nearly everybody on the roster — coaches included — has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Head coach Whitney Shaw and three players — out of 22 members of the program — have yet to be infected.
“The first time we got shut down, it was an assistant coach,” Shaw said. “The next time, two or three people got it. Last time, right before Thanksgiving break, we had 12 catch it.”
As an aside researchers might want to notice: Shaw and the three players who have yet to be infected all have O-positive blood.
With that in mind, Shaw, et al, are raring to get the 2021 season off and running.
“I think we have to be ready for anything,” she said. “It’s been so day to day already. We have to expect some sort of disruption, and we’re not going to be surprised when it happens.”
AND REGARDLESS of how truncated the season is, hopes are high for continued improvement within the Red Devil program.
Allen returns several key contributors from last year’s 19-win campaign, one of the most successful volleyball seasons in recent ACC history.
Leading the way will be sophomore Laia Jaca, an all-conference setter in 2019. The Carolina, Puerto Rico, native averaged more than 10 digs a match and eight assists per set last year.
“She will hopefully be just the same,” Shaw said.
Adriana Santiago of Austin, Texas, saw plenty of court time last season as an outside hitter, averaging nearly 2.5 kills per match. “She’ll get lots of play in the rotation,” Shaw said.
Two Red Devils suited up as defensive specialists last season, Mattie Dougherty of Atchison and Colleen Kilgore of Atlanta, Texas.
“We’ll look for one of them to step into the libero role,” Shaw said. “The other one will still play a significant role for us.”
