Tierra Allen and QU Volleyball Struggle Through Losing Season

The NBA lockout has temporarily sidelined Ray Allen, the Boston Celtics star, but his daughter, Tierra is about to complete her first season as a member of the Quinnipiac University volleyball team.

The Bobcats struggled last year to a 6-24 finish and Tierra Allen was recruited along with three other freshmen to improve the Bobcats record. But this year’s team is 4-22 with three games remaining, so the outlook for improvement looks bleak.

Head coach Robin Sparks is one of the few coaches who can overlook the team’s disparate record.

“Our team is far more skilled and talented than last year,” she said. “We’re competing at a much higher level. Our problem is unforced errors and that comes with youth. There’s times when we have three or four freshmen on the floor and you have to be consistent.”

Friday night, the Bobcats were shut out by Sacred Heart 3-0, losing each game by about ten points. Tierra Allen recorded four kills and 22 total attacks, but it wasn’t enough to match the highly skilled Pioneers who are a leader in the Northeast Conference.

The Bobcats won’t play in the post season NEC tournament because only the top four teams qualify and their league record after Friday’s loss was 3-10.

Allen has had a rough first season, limited by stress fracture injuries that kept her out of action for much of the season. She’s in the starting lineup now but plays sporadically.

“At the beginning of the season it was hard to get my thoughts together and figure out how to focus and learn the game, but now it’s much easier,” she said.

She’s taller and stronger than most of her teammates, so there’s lots of potential.

“She has a lot to learn and she knows that,” Sparks said. “She’s been limited as to what she can do this year but her volleyball IQ is increasing. Sometimes she tries to think too much and not let her natural ability take over, but she’s doing a really nice job and fits in really well with the team.”

Allen starred playing in high school in South Carolina and Massachusetts.

“College is much harder, but it’s kind of the same,” she said. “At the beginning of my high school career it was difficult, then it started getting easier when I started learning how to play. It’s the same situation here, I’m learning how to be a smarter player.”

The Bobcats started this year with pre-season tournament games against UCLA, Loyola Marymount, Xavier and Maryland.

“We played some tough teams early on,” Sparks said. “I scheduled a tough season, not realizing we’d be starting so many freshmen, but I think it’s been great for the team. They got their eyes open. If you want to make it to the next level, you’re going to see that level of athlete. You’re going to play a lot of kids who are touching well over 10 feet.”

The volleyball season is about to end and basketball begin. Allen played basketball in high school and considered playing at QU.

“I was thinking of it but I don’t want to overdo it, so I’ll focus on one sport,” she said.

She looks ahead to a sophomore season when the freshmen will have had a full year of experience and will be eager to improve.

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