Some athletes’ presence alone is enough to be a game-changer.
Thus was the case this year on the volleyball court for McAllen Memorial’s Eliane Silberman.
The 6-foot junior led the area with 0.8 blocks per set for the District 30-5A champion Mustangs. But, even if she wasn’t getting a hand on a kill attempt, just the fact that hitters knew she was going to be there would often make them second guess where their attack would be aimed. Her outstretched arms would intimidate opponents into attempting to go over her, or around her. Oftentimes the end result was a ball that, in return, Memorial used to set up its powerful and varied attack.
When she did chalk up that block, it sent lightning-like excitement through her and her teammates.
For her performance this season, Silberman has been named The Monitor’s All-Area Volleyball Blocker of the Year.
“She’s definitely a presence to deal with and she puts up one huge block,” Memorial head coach Ashley Doffing said. “You could see in some of the opponents’ faces after they kept getting blocked, sometimes three and four times in a row. There aren’t many defensive players like Eliane and she can really rattle another team if they’re not used to being blocked.”
Silberman began playing volleyball in eighth grade and, after a season playing for the JV light team, she began looking into training, joining the Texas Fierce and club director Ryan Richardson. She admits she was nervous after seeing all the experienced girls on the court.
“I didnt really know much — just hit the ball, and I had my own technique at that time,” Silberman said. “But I started opening my eyes more and seeing and hitting the whole court more, controlling the ball more and being a lot smarter with the ball. I’m still learning and it’s a hard thing to learn and get good at, but I’m going to keep working.”
Many would say she’s already good, or better, at being an intimidating defensive stopper in the middle. Coming back for her senior year, she and Doffing are planning for a bigger role for her. It’s a challenge she’s already eagerly accepting.
“I wanted to hit more this season but I wasn’t as consistent,” she said. “I would love to be part of more plays and be more of a leader and dependable for my team and everyone. I want to be that person who can always be there.
“I want to be more consistent with my hitting and blocking. Of course, blocking comes first, hitting is always a plus though.”
Doffing echoes those sentiments and said that Silberman will be an even more dangerous weapon if her plan to run the offense through her goes as hoped.
“This will be her third year on varsity so having her return gives us that much more leadership on this team,” the second-year Memorial coach said. “This will be her third year on varsity, so having her return gives us that much more leadership on the team. That’s definitely what I’m hoping for her, to be our go-to player because having a strong middle presence both defensively and offensively — she’ll be unstoppable.
“The defense part goes so unnoticed but she’s so effective there and she has shown how much she values working at that. She is a total momentum breaker for the other team. Getting blocks is so much harder than getting kills and getting that many is just amazing. Teams had to plan around Eliane’s blocks.”
Silberman said while she believes the middle is the spot for her, she had her “eyes opened” during the times she played as an outside hitter.
“I learned a lot from playing on the outside,” Silberman said. “But I love playing the middle.”