PASSIONATE BRASHER KEYS SOUTHSIDE MAVS VOLLEYBALL PUSH

Southside volleyball coach Steve Haaser has a way of finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. Forty years of coaching volleyball buys you a keen eye. Southside defensive specialist Micah Beth Brasher is one of those proverbial needles. The Maverick defensive specialist will showcase her process today in the first of a two-day team camp that will include 10 teams, Van Buren, Northside and Alma among them. “She’s kind of an overachiever,” Haaser said. “She just keeps plugging away. She’s one that’s going to make a big play for you in a key situation. She really came on about midway through the season last year, and she earned herself a spot in the starting rotation.” Just 2½ weeks shy of their 2018 opener, today’s mini-tournament will give Haaser a chance to define his roster, not that he isn’t already settled on the team’s strong back row of Brasher, Emily Bass and Montana Smith. The stronger the back row, the stronger the team. “Those three will be key defenders on the back row,” Haaser said. “I’m a very competitive person, so I like how there is a net in-between me and my opponent,” Brasher said. “I like how it’s a team; we can’t get points without the back row. I like how everyone touches the ball at least once; it’s a team effort. “If you’re not a team that works well together, then you’re not going to do well.” The 5-foot-7 Brasher grew up on baseball diamonds, watching older brothers Christian and Kinner play baseball. At some point, though, she found her way to the gym. “It’s either Kinner baseball or Christian baseball, or I’m playing volleyball,” Brasher said. “I grew up on a baseball field.” The left-handed hitter Brasher played some on the front row last season, usually on the right side. “Left-handers traditionally play on the right side on the front row,” Haaser said. “It’s more natural. But Micah’s short, and at this level, she’s not going to play much on the front row.” The Mavericks return two of the league’s top hitters in Hannah Holland and Jenna Mullins. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. “I think we do have the talent,” Brasher said. “If we keep working, and we keep what we know we should, and we don’t slack off, I think we have a very good chance of winning this.”

PASSIONATE BRASHER KEYS SOUTHSIDE MAVS VOLLEYBALL PUSH

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 7/31/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian D. Sanderford