Generals' Greer remains down to earth

[Beamerball 566]

Nice article from the K-times on a Lee High volleyball player, who by the end of the season should have her name in the list of some VHSL records.

 

http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3552021

Generals' Greer remains down to earth

By GEORGE THWAITES

Times-News

 

BEN HUR - Not only does Lee High volleyball standout Alysha Greer toot her own horn, she also waves her own flag.

 

But only in the literal sense, mind you.

 

After a week of dominating opponents at the net, the 6-foot-1 senior looks forward to Friday nights marching with the Lee High band in halftime shows as head of the flag corps.

 

"I really enjoy the activity of the flag corps. It's a whole lot of fun," said Greer, who has played saxophone since fifth grade. "Halftime shows are fun. I also like marching in parades. The Christmas parade in Gatlinburg is fun because there are so many people there."

 

While Greer enjoys showmanship, she's anything but a showboat.

 

Lee High volleyball coach Angela Thomas is also Greer's English teacher. At the beginning of class this fall, she asked her students to write an autobiography. Most of what Greer wrote was simply about the family relationships that were important to her.

 

"With all her accomplishments the past year, all she wrote was that she was in the band and played volleyball," Thomas marveled.

 

"She stated it very simply: ‘I play volleyball.' I've coached kids who've accomplished far less and they have that swagger. She just floats on through."

 

Float? Soaring might be more like it.

 

As a sophomore middle hitter on a Lee High squad that had three 6-footers, Greer had 109 kills on the season.

 

Then she made the move to outside hitter. The 464 kills she hammered out while leading the Lady Generals to the Group AA state quarterfinals last year stands as both a single-season and career record at the school. She was the unanimous Region IV Player of the Year and was a first team VHSCA All-Group AA selection.

 

The only Group AA player in the state to have a better season than Greer was Blair Brown of eventual state champion Loudoun Valley. Brown went on to sign a volleyball scholarship with Penn State.

 

"Last year, I realized that I was actually pretty good at this. My sophomore year just wasn't as good as it could have been," said Greer, a solid student whose favorite academic subjects are English and computer information systems.

 

"I'm just more comfortable playing from outside. My hits are a lot better and I have a lot more power. My personal philosophy is to hit it hard and put it down."

 

As of the end of last week, Greer was 245 kills shy of 1,000 for her career. To meet the millennium mark would be a daunting accomplishment, requiring a season average of 19.8 kills per match. Even considering her single-match highs - she had 35 kills against Abingdon last year and recorded 26 against Virginia High last week - maintaining the pace for 1,000 might be a tall order.

 

At any rate, that would be gravy. College scouts from UNC Asheville, Coastal Carolina, Furman, Milligan, Campbell University, Carson-Newman, Lincoln Memorial University and (sporadically) the University of Kentucky are interested in her whether she hits that career mark.

 

Thomas characterized Greer as one of the most "stable, courteous and down-to-earth kids" she's ever met. While she believes Greer is capable of playing Division I volleyball, she thinks her pupil will probably choose a college primarily on the basis of its cultural and academic offerings.

 

"She's not one of those kids who thinks a big-name Division I school has to be it. She likes art. She likes music. She likes dance. She's not a party kid. She's not going to be interested in an active campus social life," Thomas said.

 

Greer's main athletic goals remain team-oriented. As of this week, Lee High is 9-3 overall - its only losses having been once to Science Hill and twice to Rye Cove.

 

"We want to win the districts again. And we want to win the region. And we want to go back to the state," Greer noted.

 

While Greer is probably Lee High's best individual volleyball player ever, she may very well be surrounded by the best supporting cast ever. Student body fan support for the volleyball squad has grown noticeably this year. Greer doesn't think for a moment that it's all on her account.

 

"I think everything has changed, but it really hasn't changed me. If not for my team, I wouldn't be what I am," she said.

 

Whether Greer's apparent lack of egotism is due to extraordinary virtue or merely common sense, Thomas truly appreciates her star performer's point of view.

 

"It's nice to have a big, 6-1 kid who's so powerful. But if she was all we had, everybody would just focus on stopping her," Thomas said.

 

"I've been real lucky to have some talented setters and awesome setters. If we lose them, we lose our chances of winning. So our success isn't based only on Alysha. But she does make our team better."