Central Valley relies on all-leaguers Roullier, White

They like to talk about chemistry on Central Valley’s volleyball team.

Whatever the Bears are mixing together, it works. CV won the 32-team SunDome Volleyball Festival last Saturday in Yakima, rallying past North Kitsap 20-25, 25-17, 15-9 in the final.

“We’ve been playing together a long time, all of us, so I think we have a lot of chemistry,” junior middle hitter Keann White said. “We just like to have fun out there and we’re all really good friends. There’s no drama or anything.”

“I think the chemistry this year is awesome,” senior outside hitter/MH Kazlyn Roullier said. “At the beginning of the year we had a few chemistry issues, but we just talked it out and ever since we’ve just all worked together. If someone makes a mistake, we just let them know we’re all there for them and we’re a team.”

The Bears return eight players – split evenly between seniors and juniors – from last year’s team that advanced to the State 4A tournament. Roullier and White are returning first-team all-leaguers.

Second-year coach Amanda Bailey knows she has a talented group with which to work.

“Keann and Kazlyn, along with the rest of the team, are going to be tough to defend against in the front row,” Bailey said. “They’ve already combined for several key offensive plays at the net and are tough to block.”

Roullier, co-captain with classmates Sasha Montgomery and Kara Nitteberg, was born in Bozeman but moved to Spokane for elementary school. She started volleyball in fifth or sixth grade.

White was born in Spokane but moved to Arizona for kindergarten through sixth grade. She began playing volleyball in fourth grade and met Roullier for the first time in middle school.

Both girls are also track and field athletes, Roullier in the hurdles and both in the triple jump and high jump.

But volleyball figures to be the ticket to college for both. Roullier has given an oral commitment to Division II Western Washington.

CV had never qualified for state until Roullier’s freshman year. Now the Bears would be dissatisfied with anything less.

“Our main goal, obviously, is to go to state,” Roullier said. “I think it’s very accomplishable and I think we can do it, definitely, as long as we just keep our spirits up in every game and shake off mistakes.”

“I definitely think this is by far the best season we’re going to have,” White said. “I think we have our players at the best levels this year.”

The Bears figure to battle Valley neighbor University for the Greater Spokane League title, with strong challenges from at least three other schools. By defeating CV in the league counter last year, U-Hi was able to tie Mead and Shadle Park for the title.

“I would say that the top teams this year are going to be Central Valley and U-Hi,” Roullier said. “It’s going to be a tough competition, that match.”

“We lost two players and gained two players, so the team is basically the same,” White said. “But I really think that how we work and just our skill level has changed a lot this year.”