Can't hear my voice

The girls of Whirlwind Volleyball club are not spending the Independence Day holiday hanging around the pool, eating barbecue and watching fireworks from the backyard. Instead, the club’s three youth teams are in Dallas, sweating inside hot gyms in search of national recognition. The under-16, under-14 and under-13 teams will be at the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Tournament, which starts with pool play today through Tuesday before elimination play begins.

“It means a lot because I’ve only been playing for two years,” said Reilly Atkinson, a Binghamton eighth-grader on the under-14 team. “It’s one of those things you never think you would be able to do, but to do it so early in my playing career it’s really cool to be able to do and represent our area.”

The under-14 team is led by Breanna Horton, 23, in her first year as a coach after playing at Owego Free Academy and SUNY Brockport. Horton’s mother, Pam, has coached Owego’s modified and junior varsity teams for years; Breanna’s sister, Brittany, is the head coach of the under-16 squad.

“We had multiple meetings and talked about who should coach,” Whirlwind Coach Director Rashinda Reed said.

“The Horton family has been part of volleyball for years.”

For years, the region’s volleyball talent was split between Vestal Volleyball Club and Win City before they consolidated under the Whirlwind name this past fall.

“I felt there are so many talented girls on our teams,” said Reed, who also is an assistant coach for Binghamton University’s volleyball program. “The town we live in isn’t conducive to three or two teams. I felt it was better to bring all the girls together.