Lady Panthers get boost with return of injured standout

Colleyville Heritage’s volleyball program received a mental and physical lift last week when junior Tatum Ticknor returned to the lineup.

Ticknor, who has been out since late August with a sprained right ankle (the one she sprained in the spring), played against Haltom on Sept. 15 and against Coppell last Friday. She will remain a part of the starting rotation for the balance of the season.

But her role has changed. A libero/defensive specialist by trade, head coach Hollie Huston said Ticknor will remain in the back row. There are no plans to return Ticknor to the front row as a hitter.

Colleyville Heritage (15-18, 2-1) had its 28-match district winning streak snapped in a loss to Coppell. But for the long term, this team is back to full strength. The Lady Panthers played at Hurst L.D. Bell Tuesday and play host to Euless Trinity on Friday.

“When Tatum got released to play, there really wasn’t any hesitation to keep her in the back row because that’s what she does,” Huston said. “The last two times she injured the ankle was when she was in the front row. So I didn’t want to risk that.

“We had her in the front because of necessity. We were minus two hitters. But Tatum’s presence on the court and her leadership are really important to our team.”

With Ticknor, Huston has devised a plan that will spell freshman outside hitter Jill Dickens. When it’s time for Dickens to rotate to the back row, Ticknor will substitute for her. That’s also when Colleyville Heritage is operating out of its 5-1 alignment.

Settling on not being settled

As the season has progressed, it’s evident that Huston has been rotating players between different positions. Lauren Evans playing setter and outside hitter is just an example. It’s also no secret that Huston has shifted liberally between the 6-2 and 5-1.

The latter is going to be a set-to-set proposition. For instance, if the 5-1 is working, then it’s going to stay that way. If there are issues in the middle of the court with opposing blocks, Huston could make the change.

“Really, the players have been great adjusting on the fly,” Huston said. “It’s been a little unorthodox. We had some players missing in the spring and of course, we had to make sure Tatum was ready to go. But the great thing about this is that they’ve just gone about their business and played and not worried about it.”

Grapevine update

The Lady Mustangs (19-15, 3-0 in District 6-5A) enjoyed a fairly easy week with wins against Fort Worth Dunbar and Fort Worth Eastern Hills. In the Eastern Hills match, freshman outside hitter Nicole Buhr had 10 kills.

Grapevine drew the first of its two byes on Tuesday with a non-district match at Flower Mound. It then plays host to Lake Dallas on Friday.

“It was a good week last week because there were things we could work on to make us better,” head coach Kori Cooper said. “But [there are] things we have to do better to keep us sharp that causes a win. We have to continue to serve tough and pass well. We have to do this every match.”

So far, the team has gone through the season with relatively few health matters. Cooper credits her training staff for using several injury prevention methods that focus on the ACL, calf and shoulder.

“They’ve done a really good job,” Cooper said. “They are on top of everything.”

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Lady Panthers get boost with return of injured standout."