THS standout excelling at college level

Terrebonne High School athletic supporters and Tri-parish volleyball fans alike know this situation and remember it like it was yesterday.

A setter sets the ball, placing it beautifully and softly up in the air.

Fans watch as the ball glides through the air, reaching its apex, before heading back down to earth and being pounded over the net and to the ground by a hungry and ambitious outside hitter.

Sierra Lyons strikes again, adding yet another kill to her seemingly endless collection.

After polishing up a storied athletic career at Terrebonne, Lyons is carrying her athletic success to the college level, having just completed her freshman season at Xavier University of Louisiana n a season that saw the 6-foot-1-inch standout win the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference’s Player of the Week award twice.

“It was fun,” Lyons said looking back on her previous season. “It was up tempo from high school, and I was exposed to a lot of players of my caliber and better. It was a great experience.”

Lyons landed among the college ranks after becoming a three-sport All-State performer at Terrebonne.

But despite her athletic prowess in high school, which includes being Terrebonne’s all-time leading rebounder in basketball, while also winning a state championship in track, Lyons said she didn’t expect to make a major impact right away in college.

She said she remembered her transition from junior high school to prep and thought there was no way she’d be able to see the floor for XULA consistently as a freshman.

“As a freshman, you start at the bottom of the food chain,” she said. “I knew that. I remembered that from high school.”

She was wrong.

Where Lyons expected to work her way to the top over time, she was a starter from day one for the Gold Nuggets, earning playing time because of her dominant offensive presence.

That move surprised not only Lyons, but also XULA coach Al’lisa Hale, who said she didn’t know she had a “super freshman,” when Lyons signed with the team.

“I knew she was a good volleyball player, but I knew she was young,” Hale said. “I knew there was a lot of things that she still needed to learn. I was definitely surprised at the impact that she was able to have in this conference in her first year.”

With her first collegiate season now over, Lyons said she would spend the beginning of her offseason resting and enjoying “normal life.”

With a big family in the Houma area, she plans to enjoy the holiday season and the treats that come with it, before returning back to the grind of preparing for her sophomore season.

“Honestly, I’m going to have to build my stamina back up,” she said. “Being off their diet during the offseason when it’s holiday time and being able to get back into real foods, I know I’ll need to work out hard and do my best to stay in the routine like if I were still in the season.”

On the volleyball floor, Lyons said she has some specifics she’d look to tweak, as well.

“I’m trying to increase my vertical,” Lyons said. “It’s increased a lot from when I was in high school to my first year here.”

Hale said in terms of tactical adjustments, she has bigger plans for an improved Lyons next season.

“We’re going to have her do a little more passing and work on her defense a little bit,” Hale said. “I’d like to have her playing more all the way around. We’re just hoping to be able to move her in and out a little bit more. We kept her on the outside a lot this year, but I know she’s also capable of playing in the middle. We hope to see some more of that in the coming years.”

The coach also added that with progression, she sees no reason why Lyons can’t be the conference’s best player.

Because, in her words, she just might be already.

“I think she already was this year,” Hale said. “Of course, it just depends on how far you actually make it in the tournament and how high your rankings are as far as our team goes. I’m sure us not winning as much, that had a lot to do with her not being unanimously placed in the top among the best players in this conference.”

An always humble Lyons wouldn’t go that far, but said she is excited about where she is now as a player, and hopeful for where things could go from here.

“I’m proud of this past season,” she said. “I didn’t see it coming, but I’m proud. I just hope to work to keep it up and keep making myself into a better player.”

If she’s able to do that, the setter will keep setting and Lyons will keep killing n this area knows the way the story unfolds.

Former Terrebonne High School volleyball player Sierra Lyons smashes a kill during a prep match last season. With her prep career complete, Lyons has moved on to Xavier, where she had a strong freshman season, earning First Team All-Conference. FILE PHOTO