By Ryan Nagelhout Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Mon Sep 26, 2011, 07:37 PM EDT
NIAGARA FALLS — The Lawson family van has a ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’ bumper sticker on the back. This year, girls volleyball teams in the Monsignor Martin are learning not to mess with the Lawsons, either.
Sisters Alex and Shannon Lawson have led Niagara Catholic to a pair of wins over MMAA large school teams for the first time in years, and they are helping turn a small school into a force on the court.
“What they brought to the team was a lot of experience because a they’ve been playing volleyball all year long with club,” said coach Jerry Zasowski, whose team hosts St. Mary’s tonight. “That experience and the talent level raises the rest of the team’s talent level.”
Alex, a senior setter, and Shannon, a junior hitter, came to Niagara Catholic last fall after playing volleyball at Lewiston-Porter since moving to the area from Texas.
“Things at Lew-Port didn’t work out for us and we heard a lot of good things about the school,” Shannon said. “There are so many more benefits than public schools and it just happened to have a volleyball team, so we became a part of it.”
The Lawsons play club volleyball for Buffalo Volleyball Academy, which means plenty of driving in the van to find top competition. That experience has paid off, however. Zasowski said after watching Alex and Shannon in their first practice with the team last year, he knew they could be something special.
“I saw (Alex) in practice for 30 seconds and said ‘You’re our setter.’ You could tell real easily she had the talent to do that and she can also hit. When she’s in the back or in the front she can hit,” Zasowski said. “And her sister is a really good passer. They play tremendously running the offense and scoring points.”
Shannon said her older sister has taken charge of the team this fall and has helped bring the team together.
“She’s just a great and amazing player and she’s really showing leadership this year as a captain,” Shannon said. “I think it really shows on the court.”
Sibling chemistry on the court is obvious, but Zasowski said the pair do a great job of spreading the ball around and making the most of their teammates.
“Alex does a great job setting,” he said. “She sets everybody which is really helpful because they would really key on Shannon if she’s feeding her the ball and she’s hitting cross-court every time.”
The family’s impact on the program is hard to ignore. Their mother, Vandy, coaches the JV squad and said the family vibe at the parochial school has helped the team find success.
“I leave all the coaching on varsity pretty much to Jerry. It’s hard to coach your own kids,” Vandy Lawson said. “It’s fun to watch them play and I take stats, but I try to stay out of the fray.”
With wins over Mount St. Mary and Mount Mercy, both large schools, the Patriots feel confident they can do some real damage in the postseason this fall.
“I’ve been here for seven years and this is the first time we’ve beaten a large school,” Zasowski said. “The small schools don’t beat the big schools. It was a big one for us and it’s going to hopefully get us in the playoffs.”
Alex said that’s the goal, and getting a few more girls at Niagara Catholic interested in the sport would be a nice bonus.
“I guess volleyball has never really been popular here until we came here and started winning,” she said. “People started coming to our games and people are really excited that Niagara Catholic has a winning team.”
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