Denver City's David signs with Tech volleyball team

By Adam Zuvanich lubbockonline.com Copyright 2011 Lubbock Online. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Breeann David still has a greeting card from Don Flora, who asked her to make a recruiting visit to New Mexico State.

David never made it to Las Cruces, N.M., where Flora was an assistant volleyball coach at the time, but he’s managed to put her on his roster nonetheless. Flora was hired as Texas Tech’s head coach in January, and on Wednesday David signed her national letter of intent to play for the Red Raiders beginning in the fall.

“We were on her big time back in the day, the last year or so, and we would have loved to have had her,” Flora said. “Once I got the job here and knew she was coming, I was thrilled.”

Flora wasn’t the only college volleyball coach who recruited David, a 6-foot outside hitter from Denver City who helped lead the Fillies to four district championships and two regional-title matches. More than a dozen schools expressed interest in her, including Big 12 Conference counterparts Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri.

But Tech was an easy sell, because David said she’s always been a Red Raider at heart. Her parents met on the Tech campus in the early 1980s — father Stan played football, and mother Megan played volleyball — and she wants to stay close to home.

“I don’t have to change school colors,” said David, who wears red and black at Denver City. “I know the fight song. It’s good I don’t have to learn anything new. It’s home.”

Megan David, who was Megan McGuire during her playing career at Tech and is the head coach at Denver City, said she’s never pressured Breeann to follow in her footsteps. But the mother is no less excited to see that happen, saying it’s “quite an honor.”

Megan David, who still holds single-season program records for total blocks and block assists, said her daughter is more powerful and a better all-around player than she was. Breeann David, a four-year all-state selection who also plays basketball and runs track for the Fillies, is the volleyball program’s career record-holder in kills (2,758), assists (1,813) and blocks (753).

“I think she brings a versatility — she can do a lot of things — and she’s very athletic,” Megan David said. “I’m excited to have somebody besides her mom coaching her and see what they can bring out of her. I hope she just blossoms at Tech, and I think she will.”

Breeann David said she’ll be “coming after” her mom’s blocking records, even though she’ll likely be playing outside instead of in the middle of the court. She also said she’s “determined to win” with a program that hasn’t done much of that lately.

During the last four seasons, the Red Raiders are 18-100 overall with only three wins in Big 12 play. They haven’t had a winning season since 2001.

But Breeann David said she’s excited about the direction of the team under Flora, who was part of successful programs at New Mexico State and the University of La Verne in California. In 11 seasons as the head coach at the latter school, Flora went 242-56 with nine conference titles and an NCAA Division III championship.

“He has it set in his mind what he wants to do with the program and what he wants to do to get there,” David said. “I don’t think we’re going to be losing much longer.”

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