Andrea Lowry has responded to the challenge given to her by her head coach.
Lowry, a senior volleyball player for Siloam Springs, entered this season as the starter at libero -- a defensive position on the court that wears a different colored jersey than the rest of the team.
But when you play libero for Siloam Springs and longtime head coach Rose Cheek-Willis, there's big-time expectations to be the leader on the court and early in the season Lowry struggled with those pressures.
In fact, after a 3-0 loss to Greenwood on Sept. 15, Lowry briefly had the libero jersey taken away from her and handed to sophomore defensive specialist Kelsey Lewis in the next match at Huntsville on Sept. 20.
"I took that libero position away from her for a little while because I wanted her to understand that the libero is going to take 80 percent of the balls," Cheek-Willis said. "They're going to control the back of the court."
The move definitely got Lowry's attention.
"Whenever she told me that it made me so much more motivated," Lowry said. "I try not to take things for granted. You don't think you are, but when she told me that she was right. She always says throughout the season, we can switch positions and switch who is starting, and I took it serious, every practice and game. But I was so off."
One reason for Lowry being out of sorts on the floor was the pain she was feeling in her arms. It turns out she suffered a second degree burn in her arm pits because of the type of deodorant she was using.
"That messed me up for two days," she said. "I was completely off. I was messing up so much because I could barely lift my arms. ... It was awful pain. I went to the doctor. He called it a second degree chemical burn. (Trainer Brian) Nitz said it was so deep he could see my blood vessels. It was very painful."
Cheek-Willis also wanted to see some fire from Lowry, who's had three older sisters shine in athletics prior to her -- Sarah in basketball and volleyball, Emily in cross country and track, and Natalie in cheerleading.
"Coach always tells me, 'I know it's hard for you because it's not your personality, but I want you to have some sass -- a sass walk,' and then she'll look at me and raise her eyebrow," Lowry said with a grin. "She tells me to be aggressive and keep them together, be the coach on the court. That's my main goal when I'm out there. She tells me the libero needs to take 80 percent of the passes, to step in front of people and take those passes like a libero should."
Since temporarily losing the job, that's what Lowry has done. She returned to the libero spot the next game and has been back there every night since.
"I had to challenge her," Cheek-Willis said. "That was the thing. Man you've got to be mean. You've got to take control and take charge out there. You've got to have some savvy about you. You've got to have an air about you. That's what a libero does. They walk out on that court and they've got an air about them. And she did. She turned it around.
"After that, she steps in and she takes control. I'm really proud of her and proud of her character. She's really all about the team. It's not about her. She's good with all the other girls on the team."
Lowry leads the team with 529 digs and she's taken the most balls on serve-receive with 325.
"I feel like Andrea Lowry has stepped it up," Cheek-Willis said.
The Lady Panthers (15-15) -- who went 3-2 at the Conway Tournament over the weekend -- played at Greenwood on Tuesday in their final 6A/5A-1 Conference match of the season. Results were not available at presstime.
Lowry and Siloam Springs will be back in action on Saturday in the opening round of the 6A-West Conference Tournament. Location, opponent and game time also were not available at presstime.
The Lady Panthers need to win either their first round or second round game to punch their ticket to the Class 6A State Tournament, which will be at Lake Hamilton Oct. 25-27. Siloam Springs has been eliminated in the quarterfinals in each of the last five seasons since making it to the Class 5A finals in 2010.
Lowry remembers the 2010 game, as her sister Sarah was a starter at right side for the Lady Panthers. It was a tough day for Siloam Springs as the Lady Panthers saw their six-year streak of state championships end with a 3-1 loss to Nettleton at Bentonville's Tiger Arena.
Lowry thinks this year's team has the talent to get back to the title game, which will be held in Hot Springs on Oct. 29.
"We have amazing athletes," she said. "We're so talented. ... I have the confidence. All the girls we know we are capable of making it to the championship game."
Sports on 10/12/2016