Lyons brings offensive roar to Terrebonne Lady Tigers

Chip Didier doesn’t mind that Sierra Lyons is ‘sugar and spice and everything nice’ in the hallways.

But the Terrebonne volleyball coach wants his sophomore middle hitter to be the ‘queen of mean’ on the court.

&#8220She’s not normally a very aggressive person, and we’re trying to make her more aggressive,” he said. &#8220Physically, she has the ability. But mentally, she’s still learning.”

A tougher Lyons can only spell trouble for the rest of the district, which has already struggled to stop her at the net.

Lyons (6-foot-1) is averaging more than 16 kills per game and is the driving force behind a Lady Tigers squad (27-10 overall) that’s primed to go deep into the playoffs.

&#8220If you stop Sierra on our team, you stop a lot of kills,” Didier explained. &#8220When she’s out of the game or in the back row, we don’t have a tall person like her that can take control. She’s our dominating presence at the net.”

Lyons, however, is quick to give credit to her teammates.

&#8220Coaches can prepare for me all they want, but there will always be five other girls on the other side of the net at the same time as me,” she said. &#8220It’s a team effort all the time.”

Lyons admitted that she wasn’t a natural when she launched her volleyball career in the sixth grade.

Despite being taller than most of her teammates, Lyons wasn’t very adept at spiking and blocking.

In fact, she didn’t care for either.

&#8220I wasn’t the best player because I didn’t want to block and I didn’t want to hit,” Lyons joked. &#8220I almost felt like a preschooler playing against third graders. I didn’t really know the sport too well.”

Lyons got a crash course during her freshman campaign, where she learned the rigors of the high school game under Didier as a varsity starter.

Despite being a relative novice, she finished the year with district honorable mention accolades.

Nonetheless, the learning continues.

&#8220Sometimes (this year) she’ll fall back and start playing like a sophomore when we need her to play a lot older,” Didier said. &#8220But that’s her youth. Sierra did a great job for us as a freshman and she’s a much-improved player this year, but she still has a long way to go.”

Many of Lyons’ opponents might argue that she’s already there.

Lyons recorded 11 kills and three blocks to help her team defeat New Iberia (25-14, 21-25, 15-7) in the championship of the New Iberia Tournament on Oct. 13.

Her performance netted her tournament MVP honors.

&#8220My strength would be my hitting,” Lyons said. &#8220I’d say I have a little bit of power, but not too much. And I think I’m getting better at blocking – that’s improving.”

And the mental toughness?

&#8220When it comes to playing H.L. Bourgeois and Assumption, the powerhouse teams, then niceness goes away a little bit.”

Terrebonne hosts the Lady Braves Thursday. The JV game begins at 4 p.m., with the varsity to immediately follow.