Ghramm gets it done
Leaders come in all shapes and sizes.
For the Lake City High volleyball team, Dani Ghramm is the perfect shape and size.
Ghramm, last season’s defensive specialist of the year in the Inland Empire League, doesn’t fit the mold of the classic “vocal motivator.”
All she does is leave every bit of herself on the court in every match.
The rest takes care of itself.
Coming off a huge victory over IEL titan Sandpoint, the Timberwolves’ first since 1997, Ghramm downplays her role – in typical fashion, according to coach Kent Scanlon.
“All I do is get to the balls that get past the block,” the senior said, matter-of-factly.
But getting to those balls is often the difference between W’s and L’s, and Ghramm says this season is all about the W.
“We want to be the league champions and (regional) champions just like any other team wants to be,” she said. “But what we really want is to get to state and improve on what we did last year.”
The T-Wolves finished third at the Big Dance in 2003, but Ghramm said there’s a whole different mojo in 2004.
“We’re communicating a lot better than we did last year and feeding off each other a lot more,” she said. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but we’re clicking now and everyone has so much energy.”
That energy shone through in the victory over Sandpoint on Tuesday – a match in which LC dropped the first game and won the next three.
“Everyone was so excited,” Ghramm said. “I think it’s something we can build on for the rest of the season.
“We’re having so much fun playing for coach Scanlon.”
The feeling is mutual.
“I’ve been able to work with Dani for two years now, and I have never had a harder-working athlete on any of my teams,” Scanlon said of Ghramm, who is a standout on the LC softball team. “She’s willing to sacrifice little bits of skin here and there, actual contusions.
“To me, she defines what it takes to play defense at a high level in high school volleyball; she’s every coach’s dream.”
Ghramm said that she’d like to play college sports, but will be happy just to attend, if that’s the way it plays out.
“I really haven’t made up my mind where I want to go just yet,” she said. “I just know I want to stay in the Northwest.”