Birds of a Feather

Ashley Alba can always see it coming.

The jaw sets first, and then a ball doesn't come off the hand quite right, and Amithy Henry starts to fume.

So Henry tries harder, tries to focus on hitting the ball down, but volleyball's a game of runs, and another mishap makes Henry start to seethe.

At that point it's time for Alba to calm her friend down.

"I understand how intense she gets," Alba said. "We're on the same intensity level, and I can tell when she's upset."

And Henry knows how to bring Alba back from the brink.

Ten years on the same side of the net have certainly helped the UTPB seniors learn each other's tendencies.

Alba and Henry first played together on a club volleyball team in seventh grade. A decade later, the two seniors will try to lead UTPB back to the top of the Heartland Conference and into the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time.

UTPB won the Heartland's regular-season title last year with a 12-2 record, but the Falcons lost six players during the offseason.

Falcons head coach Steve Aicinena replaced those losses with four freshmen and junior Brianna Ausdenmoore, a transfer from Midland College.

The task for Alba, Henry and fellow senior Krystal Polk is to lead that group, which also includes four sophomores.

"I don't think their leadership has anything to do with being a senior," Aicinena said. "Last year our emotional leader was Krystal, and Ashley was our ‘take things serious' type of leader."

And Henry has been one of the team's best offensive options since she arrived on the UTPB campus.

Henry, an outside hitter, led the Falcons with 4.43 kills per game last year. She finished second on the team with 47 service aces.

Alba, the team's libero, led UTPB with 5.24 digs per game, but for two players with very different responsibilities, 10 years together have given the pair a sixth sense about where the other one will be.

"I'm more comfortable with her on the court than anybody else," Alba said. "I know where she's going to be, I know where I'm going to be, and I know she'll be there if I can't get to the ball."

Henry played her high school volleyball for El Paso Coronado.

Alba played for El Paso Americas.

But they first played on the same club team when they were 12, and they stayed on the same club team throughout high school.

Spending that much time on the court together turns a teammate into a volleyball sister, of sorts.

"It gives me more confidence in my play," Henry said. "I know her style of play, and she knows mine. We're very comfortable with each other."

Even when one has to calm the other down.