12/29/2006

Glass is more than half full

Leland standout wins state title, then starts in D-1

BY MARK URBAN

murban@record-eagle.com

Special to the Record-Eagle
Leland's Alicia Glass spikes the ball during the Class D semifinals against Adrain Lenawee Christian.

TRAVERSE CITY — It was a heck of a way to start a week.

On a Monday in March, Leland's Alisha Glass was presented the Miss Volleyball award. But it was the way the week ended that made the start seem more worthwhile.

Glass, who holds several state and national records, earned something on March 18 that was one of the few things lacking from her resume: a state title.

"It was a big week,” said Glass, who recently completed her freshman season playing for Penn State University. "It was nice to get that award and everything, but what I was more concerned about was what happened on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Our focus was state championship orientated.”

Each season during Glass' tenure, Leland went a little further in the state tournament. As a freshman the Comets reached the regional final and the next season reached the semifinals before losing.

In 2005, Leland reached the Class D championship before losing 3-0 to Battle Creek St. Philip (25-19, 25-19, 25-14).

It appeared the 2006 season would end the same way as the Comets met St. Philip again in the last match. The Tigers even won the first two games (25-21, 25-20) before Glass willed the Comets to victory in the final three games (25-19, 25-23, 15-9) to give Leland its first title since 2002, when Glass was in eighth grade and served as the team manager for her coaching mother, Laurie Glass.

And Glass' career — and those of the other Leland seniors — was now complete.

"People talked about our team and said, 'Oh, you've won this' and 'you've won that,' ” Glass said. "Really, a state championship is the ideal thing to win and we haven't done that.

"To come so close, even seeing the same team at the same place, we were just really focused. To go out with a bang, our senior class wanted to get it.”

Glass finished the championship match with 48 kills, 12 better than any other player had managed before that point. She finished as the national leader in career kills, service aces and blocks — several by gaping margins over No. 2. Glass also has the state record for service aces in a season.

But even with all of that, Laurie Glass said it wouldn't have meet the same without the title.

"I think she would have been disappointed in her high school career if she wouldn't have done that,” Laurie Glass said. "I don't think there's any question that was a goal from the minute she stepped on the court as a freshman, especially after watching the team before her do it.

"All those awards wouldn't have meant as much if not for that state championship award.”

After spending her four-year Leland career as a prolific hitter, Alisha Glass took her talents to Penn State University and long-time coach Russ Rose.

It was there where Glass made the full-time conversion to setter, a position she played only during AAU and Junior Olympic competition during the spring and summer.

After exploring the possibility of running a 6-2 offense, Penn State went with a 5-1 and Glass was the starting setter. She wound up helping lead the Nittany Lions to their fourth straight Big Ten championship and the quarterfinals of the national tournament.

"After getting a taste of setting and running the offense, I wanted more of it,” Alisha Glass said. "I wanted to be the one that could play all the way around. (Rose) gave me an opportunity and I ran with it.”

Glass said it was rough at first to be a freshman in such an important position. But it didn't last long.

"I've always felt her ability to make the players around her better was her greatest asset,” Laurie Glass said. "In the setter position, that's her job.”

It was a job Glass did well with Penn State this fall, just like she did with Leland in the winter.

"They were one match from the Final Four and she's touching every second ball,” Laurie Glass said.