Lowery a calming influence in guiding Scorpions

Todd Lowery came to the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College last March as head volleyball coach with considerable experience in taking teams to the NAIA national tournament along with a low-key approach to getting his players to perform at a high level.

Those qualities remain clearly evident as Lowery has guided the Scorpions to a 31-1 record, a Red River Athletic Conference championship and a No. 9 national ranking. UTB-TSC, seeded ninth, will be one of 24 teams competing at the 30th annual NAIA Championship beginning Tuesday at Sioux City, Iowa.

"Doing well at nationals is our ultimate goal," said Lowery, a native of Gillette, Wyo. "We’ve had a great season so far, but everyone (on the team) has expected us to go to nationals. Hopefully we can get out of pool play and see if we can’t make a run at a national title."

As head volleyball coach for six years earlier this decade at National American University in Rapid City, S.D., Lowery took teams to the NAIA national tournament every season, winning it all in 2002 and 2006. National American dropped its athletic program in 2007 and Lowery was out of coaching in 2008. He brought a 211-22 coaching record to Brownsville when hired by UTB-TSC.

"Coming into this season after they had kind of a down year last year, we did have high expectations," Lowery said. "We were able to take the handful of girls who were already here, six of them, and put them together with our seven new players. We’ve had a great run. I can’t say that it wasn’t altogether unexpected, but it’s a pleasant surprise to be where we’re at after pretty much rolling through conference and being ranked ninth in the country.

"I think the biggest thing that has helped our group this year is that everyone has bought into the team concept," he added. "There’s a ton of good players on this team. I just think that the team unity itself has been a key to the success of this group."

The 2009 Scorpions are sparked by four players who earned top honors on the RRAC All-Conference Team. They are Arlene Ferreira (player of year), Daianarah Bracero (setter of year), Judith Boel (newcomer of year) and Valquiria Caboclo (freshman of year). Also earning all-conference recognition for the Scorpions were Erica Chimak, Rafaela Dornelas, Talita Milasauskas and Anayeli Treviño.

Lowery, who obtained his undergraduate degree from Black Hills State University in South Dakota and his graduate degree from Chadron State College in Nebraska, describes his coaching style as laid back.

"You have to enjoy yourself," he said. "You recruit good athletes and good people. You try to guide them in the right direction, and the wins and losses will take care of themselves.

"We do most of our work during the week in practice and then try to make only a few adjustments during the matches," he added, "We don’t change our game plan from week to week to play against a certain team. We feel that if we do what we’re supposed to do on our side of the net, then it’s up to our opponent to figure out how to beat us instead of us trying to figure out how to beat them."

Prior to coming to UTB-TSC this season, Boel played at Dickinson State University of North Dakota and became familiar with Lowery as an opposing coach. He invited her to play for the Scorpions after she sat out 2008 with an injury.

"The way he seemed to be when I was playing against him, that’s the way he is," Boel said. "He’s laid back. Although, when we’re struggling, he makes sure we get back on track. He’s just a good coach, and I like having him as my coach."

Lowery said relocating to South Texas and coaching the Scorpions has been an enjoyable experience.

"You can be happy wherever you want or you can be disappointed wherever you want," he said. "I came here with the goal to be happy, to rebuild this program and to be here for awhile, and so far, it’s been great."

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.