Burnet volleyball setter Porter reaches milestones

CAPTION: Burnet sophomore setter Marisa Porter has accomplished plenty in only her second year as a varsity player in a program that is filled with plenty of outstanding athletes and achievements. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

Burnet High School volleyball sophomore setter Marisa Porter has several individual accomplishments en route to the Lady Dawgs winning their 13th consecutive match.

After Burnet disposed of Fredericksburg in straight sets 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 Sept. 1, the Lady Dawgs gathered around Porter to celebrate her 1,028 career in 65 matches and 593 season assists in 29 matches.

“She’s doing some incredible things, and she’s only a sophomore,” head coach Crystal Shipley said. “Way to go Marisa.”

As the Lady Dawgs were preparing for a challenging season, Porter talked about her love of the sport, her teammates and all the work that happens when fans aren’t always around to see it.

She noted she and her teammates, especially sophomores Landry Schubert and Taylor Smith spend “a lot of time” working together.

“Sometimes I’ll go with them and set for them, so that we can work on connection,” she said. “We’re not on the same club team outside of school, but we’ve played together since forever, so it’s just coming back to what I’m used to at this point. So it’s always fun, entertaining.”

Fun and entertaining indeed, especially when the Lady Dawgs have the weapons they have.

Fans have watched the three sophomores for awhile, and that connection has extended to other Lady Dawgs – seniors Brianne Hudgins, Peyton McCabe and Colbie Watson and juniors Kayleigh Briggs and Brooklynn Dawes.

Porter’s ability to size up what’s happening on the floor is part of the setter’s responsibilities. But Porter takes it a step more. She has demonstrated she is comfortable and trusts her teammates by mixing up who is set where in order to keep blockers guessing on where the ball is going.

In addition, Porter’s court smarts are apparent by how she disguises when she is setting a teammate or when she is sending a tip to the defense’s open hole, causing opposing players to hit the floor quickly to keep the rally going. Most of the time they fail.

But Porter noted she is surrounded by players who as court smart in their positions as she is such as Smith.

“She’s definitely smart. She wants to tip to open spots or swing away,” she said. “Landry just tries to kill them all every single time, and it’s powerful all the time. They just go up there and block everything. It’s insane.”

The setter laughed when asked if her teammates tell her to set them the ball, no matter who is on other side of the net blocking.

“I don’t think they ever put it that way,” she said. “If they make an error, they’re like, ‘OK, set me again, I got the next one.'”

The setter also must be able to set the correct teammate at a point in the game when the Lady Dawgs simply must have a kill to end a rally. At that point, she may go that player and say, “I’m coming to you.”

“I think they’re open to just trying their best whenever they can,” she said. “They may tell me, ‘Hey, set me a slower tempo, so that I have more time to work on my technique’ and just slow it down, go back to the basics. And one day they’re like, ‘OK, just for today, let’s do it this way.'”

Not every pass is to her where she can take tiny steps to set. Sometimes she must move to where the ball is passed in order to send a set. So Porter spends time working on that, too.

And that hard work is paying off. After all, during the Lady Dawgs’ 13-match winning streak, they won the Little River Academy tournament where they dropped only one set in seven matches and equally important, Burnet won the close sets where it may have only won the set by two points.

All of that illustrates an understanding of the scheme, trust among the players and their coaches, and the ability to get the job done when the team needs it the most. And the setter is a big part of that success.

Burnet lost to Troy 15-25, 17-25, 19-25 Sept. 4. The Lady Dawgs welcome Florence Tuesday, Sept. 8, with the subvarsities playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow at 6 p.m. and will take a bye Friday, Sept. 11.