Shaw leads Allen into rivalry match

Two things stand out about Whitney Shaw’s new office.
“There are lists everywhere,” she said, pointing to a desk littered with stacks of notes.
Schedules, reminders and annotations all jotted in pen are strewn across the room to help Allen’s new volleyball coach stay on top of her game.
“I’m definitely a lister.”
And then there’s the purse in the trash.
“We did a ‘Project Runway,’” Shaw said, referring to a team-bonding exercise based on the reality TV fashion show.
It’s not exactly standard procedure, but then again, there isn’t anything “standard” about Shaw’s filing system either. Still, both aspects of Shaw’s coaching style — organized yet quirky — have already helped Allen’s volleyball squad find a new identity on its way to a 3-3 start to the season.
Shaw took over the program in mid-July after Jessica Peters, who was the Red Devils’ head coach since 2007, stepped down following an 11-23 record in 2014.
After spending the last five years as Peters’ assistant coach, Shaw has learned to incorporate some of her mentor’s techniques while still making the program her own.
“A lot of things we do the same,” sophomore Carly Jackson said. “But we already changed up a few things from last year. I think some of us came in thinking, ‘Oh, it will just be the same stuff as last year.’ But we’ve also had to redo some things and learn some things. So for everyone it’s a learning experience.”
Shaw said she focuses a lot on defense having played as a defensive specialist herself while at Allen in 2006.
As head coach, of course, she has to focus on both sides of the net. To help with offense, Shaw brought in another former Red Devil to help raise the level of the team’s attacking ability.
Hayley Mertens was a player under the tutelage of Peters and Shaw during her college career at Allen, which was from 2011 to 2013. As an outside hitter, Mertens won the National Player of the Week award twice.
Shaw said that having that kind of expertise in a coach for the offensive side of the net gives the team more credibility and stability during the offseason. And now that the season has begun, the effects are starting to be seen already.
The Red Devils began the season with a quick 3-0 start, dropping just one set throughout all three matchups. Although Allen has dropped the last three games during a tournament in Norfolk, Neb., Shaw and company have the chance to turn their luck back around when they face conference rival Neosho at 6:30 tonight at home.
A big reason why the Red Devils are so confident heading into the bulk of their conference slate is because the players have seen more consistency within the squad than they have over the past couple years.
“Last year was like we were all over the place, up and down every other game,” Jackson said. “Like one game we’d play lights out and the next would be a totally different team. It was like a roller coaster the entire season. That is something we definitely do not want again.”
Fellow sophomore Raquel West echoed her teammate, adding that this year’s team has extra motivation to remain consistent throughout the season.
After seeing Shaw rise from her role as an assistant under Peters to controlling the show herself, West said she wants to help prove that making Shaw the new head coach was the right decision. And the best way to do that is to win.
“I do not want the change to be a bad change or to be looked on as a bad change,” West said. “And that’s not going to happen.”
As for expectations, Shaw said she simply wants to see more wins than losses, turning the tide from last year’s squad. The 3-0 start was just what Shaw needed to get a good head start, and after tonight, she hopes Allen can get the ball rolling again.
If the Red Devils are able to record a winning season once again and possibly make regionals, which is another of Shaw’s goals, she said her team will need to continue buying into the program and trust she can lead them to their goals.
“I want them to trust whatever I tell them,” Shaw said. “That comes a lot from them respecting me and obviously leading them in a good direction. At no point do I want them to feel like, ‘I don’t know if I can do what coach is telling me.’ I need them to accept everything I’m telling them without a blink of an eye.”