Freshman setters Li’i Etimani and Amanda Brown are close teammates at Richardson High School, but fierce rivals on the court in club volleyball. At Richardson, Li’i and Amanda have been a big boost to Adam Cornell’s up and coming program, with both girls contributing significantly to help Richardson finish 2nd in district 9-5A this year and a bi-district win over GarlandHigh School in 3 sets. Coach Cornell is excited about the furture of RHS volleyball and went on to say, "This was the youngest varsity team that I have coached in my six season as a head coach, but one of the most athletic." Having two freshman setters has really helped plug a skill gap which occurred when last year’s all-district senior setter Julia Pass graduated. When asked about how the two girls performed this year, Coach Cornell explained, "The girls stepped in and preformed their roles well. They were able to bring an energy to the court that comes along with the success of their club teams that is not easy to coach when you are dealing with most freshman who play on a varsity team. They come in with it and used it to their advantage. I feel that both girls made a huge impact to the team this year running the offense and stepping up and making some big plays on defense." The leadership and national playoff experience the girls have had in club volleyball has helped them have the confidence to step up and fit in at the varsity level with the older girls. Coach Cornell added, "When it comes to it, both girls want to win and that’s what you seen every time they step in the gym. You get a sense of “we got this” when you see them on the court." The fight to win was something the girls learned early in their sports careers...
It all began with Li’i and Amanda playing select basketball and softball together as early as 3rd grade. Their select basketball team, the Hot Shots, with Li’i as the leading rebounder and Amanda the leading scorer, was required to move to an older age group to find competition and qualified for the Prime Time sports national championship tournament. Their softball team, the Blue Jays, won multiple championships, with Amanda pitching and Li’i catching. All of this set the stage for volleyball, where the girls really have excelled at the high school level and on the national stage at club.
During club season, Amanda was the co-captain of her Skyline VBC team and helped lead them to 5th place in the country for 14U at Nationals. Li’i got the better of Amanda, as she led her TAV team to win the 14U national championship for 2009. Skyline and TAV are clearly the top two clubs in the DFW area, and in order to best prepare for nationals, the teams play each other many times during the year. In doing so the teams have developed a fierce, but respectful rivalry. Skyline got the better of TAV during the pre-Nationals season by beating TAV 5 of 8 times and winning two National qualifying tournaments. However, at the end of the day, TAV was able to drive to the finish line, winning the Junior Olympic National championship in Miami this past summer. From watching the girls play at Richardson, you would never know how hard they have battled to beat each other during club volleyball. The club experience has made a big difference for Amanda and Li'i and for Richardson volleyball.
