Senior right side hitter Alisha Watson spikes the ball against Prairie View A&M University in the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.
Nathaniel Mata | Sports Editor
Alisha Watson has been a pillar for the volleyball program. The four-year starter has played under two head coaches, under two names for her university. One thing that’s stayed completely the same is her ability to score kills in bunches.
During the Oct. 29 WAC game against Grand Canyon University, she recorded her milestone 1,000th kill in a 3-0 sweep over the Antelopes.
In her four years in Edinburg, Watson has improved on her total number of kills from the season before. She recorded 212 in 2013, 225 in 2014, 285 in 2015 and sits at 280 (and counting) as of press time.
Watson said that even though her stats have been constant, remaining consistent is a battle she continues to fight, but was made easier with the hiring of Todd Lowery as head coach at the start of the 2015 season.
“There was a lot of ups and downs and consistency is something that I always have to be mindful about each season, especially through different coaches,” said Watson, a native of Round Rock. “I was able to manage it a lot more with Todd [Lowery]. He was kind of the one who brought the reins in a little bit and made me a little bit more consistent.”
Under Lowery, she has also increased her hitting percentage from .132 in the year before he took over to .213 in his first year. This season, her hitting percentage has risen to .261.
“Alisha continues to get better as seasons go and times go,” Lowery said. “This year, she’s on pace to have her best season ever. I think she just continues to get better and I think that’s also a product of the team. We have more help in the middle, which is creating more space for her. We’re more offensive in that second outside position with Ragni [Knudsen]. All those things are creating more space and all those things are helping her have her best year in her career this season.”
There will be a void on the volleyball team when Watson leaves the program. However, some of the biggest volleyball games of her career are still in front of her as UTRGV aims to turn its best season ever into a banner year.
In her last season, she’s done a lot of reflecting on her time at UT Pan American and then UTRGV, especially of late.
“Recently, yes, of course,” Watson said. “With the end being near, that’s kind of just natural. Just been thinking about physical growth, emotional growth and mental growth. Especially with seeing the new kids come in, you see a lot of things that they struggle with emotionally, whether it’s on or off the court. Just being able to be there for them, it lets me see how far I’ve come.”
Her last two regular season games take place this weekend when UTRGV travels to Kansas City and Chicago to take on University of Missouri-Kansas City and Chicago State University, respectively.
The next target is the end-of-season WAC tournament that takes place Nov. 17 in Las Cruces, N.M.
