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2008
By GREG WAGNER
Valley Press Staff Writer
That's because things look different to Antelope Valley College volleyball coach Jane Cwayna, who has been arching her neck up a bit more the last few weeks.
"We have some height and some depth and that has me excited," Cwayna said. "It's a game where you have to have some height."
Last season AVC had only one player as tall as 5-foot-10, but this year the Marauders, who open their season tonight at 6 p.m. on the road against Glendale, have seven at least that tall.
Towering over that group is 6-foot-3 Khaliah Burnley, a middle blocker who gives AVC the prominent figure it was missing during that 7-11 season of a year ago.
"Hopefully I'll be making a big (impact) in the middle being a big block," said Burnley, a Quartz Hill High School grad.
Burnley joined the team less than a week ago after some odd circumstances at Cal State Los Angeles, which had awarded her a full scholarship. Burnley had been living in the dorms for a week prepping for the season when she was told she had three days to vacate her new room.
Turns out Burnley, only 17, wasn't allowed to live on campus in the dorms because she would not be 18 by the end of the fall quarter. She elected to bypass an off-campus apartment, return home and play at AVC while searching for an even better offer than the Division II school.
"It's kind of a bittersweet thing for me to be going from that level of play back to a JC," she said. "But I'm feeling like this is an opportunity to play for a (scholarship to a) better four-year school."
Said former Rebels teammate and outside hitter Kahli Remy: "She's looking at it positively rather than negatively - she's a big block up there."
Burnley, however, won't play tonight and is out indefinitely with undetermined medical issues. The middle blocker has been experiencing chest pains and dizziness when she works out and last practiced with AVC on Monday.
Remy, a captain and starter at outside hitter along with Jeannette Niswonger, leads a team of 12 that includes only one sophomore - outside hitter Jennifer Earwood, who was third on AVC with 126 kills and was the lone 5-foot-10 Marauder last season.
However, having so many first-year collegiate players doesn't seem to be an issue for a team that has high hopes for a strong finish in the Foothill Conference (AVC came in sixth last season).
"Volleyball is volleyball," Remy said. "If we love the sport, it's not hard to adjust (to playing in college)."
Cwayna, beginning her 27th season at AVC, has had to adjust some with new assistant coaches Turhan Douglas and Mark Cruz replacing the familiar faces of Karen and Larry Valencia. The two coaches, who are in charge of the Valley's Revolution Volleyball club, have brought some new techniques to Marauder Gym, including the swing block.
"I'm willing to adjust to be successful and win," Cwayna said. "It's teaching an old dog new tricks, but I'm learning to adapt to different ways of doing things."
What Cwayna says her players need to now adjust is their passing and defense. During two preseason scrimmage tournaments - in which AVC won 10 of 18 games - blocking and hitting shined as the Marauders' strong suits, but AVC struggled with those other two components.
That's why Cwayna has Niswonger starting at outside hitter. The 1996 Mojave grad has proven to be the most efficient passer. She has told her squad to look to put her in position to pass off most balls.
"You go with your strengths," she said.
Tatiana Wesley and Priscilla Hall have been named starters at middle blocker, with Ashley Marroquin the starting setter and Nicole Moran the libero. Paige Hobson will play opposite hitter.
