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Despite being a freshman for Texas volleyball this season, Henley Anderson has had to maneuver a "ring of fire," according to her coach.
After outside hitter Abby Vander Wal suffered an ACL injury at the end of August, Anderson has had to fill her role since the third game of the season. Jerritt Elliott recognizes just how difficult that can be for a first-year player.
"When you're freshmen, the pressure and everything else you go through, it's really hard to kind of perform at a high level and it's overwhelming," Elliott said in August.
Henley showed power and potential early, but she had to deal with a steep learning curve as Texas played seven top-25 teams before conference play. Plus she had to get used to being a main scoring option for the Longhorns with outside hitters Torrey Stafford and Cari Spears. Elliott kept telling her to "go be Henley Anderson" and as SEC play has gone on, the Dripping Springs product has settled in nicely.
UP NEXT
NO. 13 TEXAS VS. MISSOURI
When/where:
7 p.m. Friday in Columbia, Mo.
TV:
SEC Network+.
In Sunday's win over A&M, Anderson had 10 kills and hit .444 in the Longhorns' sweep, which earned her a third SEC freshman of the week accolade. Elliott said he has seen her grow in a short time.
"Early in the year she was just a one-trick pony," Elliott said Sunday. "Now she's doing a lot of different things: adding tips and high-line shots, learning how to tool the block, hitting deep corner, hitting hard cross. She's starting to learn how to be a real volleyball player."
How does Anderson stack up against other SEC freshmen?
Anderson had a career-high 15 kills in the five-set match against SMU. She had seven kills against Wisconsin and combined for 12 in the first pair of SEC games. As the conference slate has continued, she's up to 11.2 kills per match through the last nine games and is becoming a dangerous part of No. 13 Texas' rotation.
And she's making a strong case for SEC freshman of the year honors, too. Henley has won the conference's weekly freshman award in three of the last five weeks. Georgia's Gigi Artiles is the only other outside hitters to be named the freshman of the week at least once. Artiles is second on the Bulldogs in kills and was the first named freshman of the week this season after 10 kills and hitting .444 against North Florida and 12 kills and hitting .579 against Furman. But since SEC play has continued, Artiles' numbers have decreased.
Another candidate could be Tennessee's Jolene Oddo, a middle blocker. Oddo had a career-high eight blocks last week in a loss to Texas A&M but she missed nearly a month to injury and had four kills in the last two matches. Missouri also has a strong freshman in middle blocker Eva Smith, who also earned top freshman honors after a weekend of 16 blocks and a career-high 11 kills.
Assuming Anderson stays healthy, she will continue to be a strong option for the Longhorns' rotation. They showed a lot of their depth in the win against A&M and are starting to play like they typically do this time of year with the SEC Tournament approaching. At 12-7, the Longhorns are on a three-match win streak and tied for second in the conference. And Texas' star freshman is burning bright through the ring of fire.
"Understanding how to handle pressure is one of the biggest lessons," Anderson said Sunday.
Texas returns to the court to play Missouri at 7 p.m. Friday in Columbia, Mo.
This article originally published at Henley Anderson shines bright for Texas volleyball despite the 'ring of fire'.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/henley-anderson-shines-bright-texas-150000465.html
