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Taylor Rebuilds Young Panthers

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By NICK WILLIAMS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 15, 2007

This season, Plant coach Leanna Taylor has had her work cut out for her.

Last season, Plant was led by four outstanding seniors during its state title run, all of whom went on to play at Division I schools.

'I didn't have to tell them anything,' Taylor said.

This year, Taylor, the 2006 Class 5A volleyball coach of the year, had to rebuild around seven new players, the majority being underclassmen, yet the Panthers (20-1) remain on top in the state 5A poll and are No. 40 in the Century Club national poll.

Taylor said she knew she would have to attack coaching differently this season.

'This year is a different approach,' Taylor said. 'Unlike last year, we work on mostly fundamentals in practice.'

Setter Kellie Catanach, who has committed to Duke, is the lone senior on the team.

'I have to do a lot more management,' Taylor said. 'I'm nursing a lot of players this year.'

Taylor never let the younger players use their age as an excuse.

'I told them at the beginning of the year that I don't want to see a senior, a junior and a sophomore on the court. I want you all to play like seniors,' she said.

The Panthers have done just that this season. They finished fifth at the Berkeley Prep Premier and won their third consecutive Tampa Bay Invitational. The team has lost one game to a Hillsborough County team this season, and they went on to beat Brandon 3-1 in that match. Meanwhile, junior Danielle Erb and sophomore Maddie Martin are among the county's top kills leaders.

'Last year's team pushed themselves to get that bad taste out of their mouths, but this year's team has that good taste, and they want it again,' Taylor said.

COUGARS CLINCH TOP SEED: With back-to-back wins against Lakeland and Sarasota last week, Durant clinched the top seed in 6A-District 8. Last season, the Cougars (15-5) entered the district tournament as the second seed behind Sarasota Riverview.

'It helps our confidence as far as knowing we can beat every team we face,' Durant coach Dawn Hough said. 'We know the weakness of the teams we are going to face.'

Hough graduated from Durant in 1999 and played on the 1998 team that lost in the state final. She believes this year's team is capable of making a run at the state title.

'If we play our best, I feel we can do anything,' she said.

BUCS-TERRAPINS PART 2: Berkeley Prep and Tampa Prep will play their second rivalry match of the season at Berkeley Prep on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Berkeley Prep won the first meeting 3-1. The Buccaneers (17-6) haven't lost to Tampa Prep (11-11) in three years, but the Terrapins have posted solid wins against state-ranked teams in the second half of the season.

Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 865-4848 or nwilliams@tampatrib.com.

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