ACHS, FCA gain experience with each match

• By ROBIN FAMBROUGH
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Oct 15, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:43 a.m.

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Ascension Christian coach Lisa Pellegrin says her team has had more first-time experiences than victories so far.

The story is much the same for coach Shelly Cothell’s Family Christian squad.

When the two teams met for their first Division V-Classes 1A and below, District 5 match Tuesday, Ascension Christian won 3-0 by scores of 25-17, 25-12, 25-10.

Leaders for Ascension Christian (5-10, 1-0) were Krystal Braud with seven kills and four aces and Megan Pellegrin with six kills and eight assists. Leaders for FCA (0-11) were Glenna Klugh with five digs and Grace Larson three kills and two digs.

The contest played at FCA gave the Baton Rouge area’s two newest volleyball programs a chance to chart their progress against each other.

“All year our primary goal has been to improve in every match,” Cothell said. “The other day I told them I felt like we’ve done that. Now with district starting, it’s time to try and get some wins.

“In some ways, it has been a struggle. We have only one or two girls who have ever played the sport before. We came into this year with a lot to learn.”

While both Gonzales-based Ascension Christian and   Family Christian are first-year teams, both schools entered Louisiana High School Athletic Association competition from different perspectives.

Cothell, a three-sport athlete at Starkey Academy in the mid-1990s, re-started the Family Christian program that had been dropped in recent years.

A former college softball player, Cothell’s only experience with the rally scoring came when she was an assistant at Redemptorist in 2005.

As FCA’s softball coach last spring, Cothell wanted to lay the groundwork for a volleyball team. However, only a handful of players participated in a summer program.

Cothell and assistant Jennifer Dixon spent much of the fall teaching the basics to their 22-player squad.

“Our girls didn’t understand the positions, the rotations on serve or substitutions,” Cothell said. “We actually had to show them where to stand and how you rotate. The officials did call us for being out of order a couple of times early in the year, but they’ve caught on. The toughest thing now is learning the mental part of it.”