Are you ready for some volleyball?
The old joke is a thing of the past.
It used to be that the Northeast A League was referred to in some circles as the Kentucky Fried Chicken League.
It got that moniker from league membership: Kettle Falls, Freeman and Colfax. KFC.
For such a tiny league, the NEA certainly made noises at state. Colfax has won seven volleyball titles and earned 15 state trophies since 1982 – and that success a ceiling on Freeman over the years.
“There were years we would be ranked No. 4 in the state and we couldn’t get into the state tournament,” Kenny Davis said. “We’d lose to Colfax in the regional and we’d only have the one berth.”
Davis’ first state tournament berth at Freeman was in 1998, and his Scotties did not earn a state trophy of their own until 2000, when they placed sixth.
Freeman has played in every state tournament since 2000. During that run, Davis’ teams have placed sixth (2000), second (2002), third (2003), and seventh (2004).
Last year, despite being the only Class 1A team in the state to have beaten state champion Colfax, the Scotties did not win a state trophy.
This year, the KFC league expands to the full bucket meal with the addition of Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls and Chewelah to the four-team league of Kettle Falls, Freeman, Colfax and Newport.
For Davis, the dean of area volleyball coaches, the change is welcome.
“I think this will make us even stronger,” Davis said. “Lakeside comes in with a very strong program, and Chewelah has a strong program.
“This also gives us 10 league games instead of the six we’ve had in the past. You have to get up, be ready and go out and play every night.”
Elsewhere in the Spokane Valley, three teams – Central Valley, East Valley and University – start the season with new setters. West Valley gets to break in a brand-new gym as it begins play this season in the Great Northern League.
Greater Spokane League
Central Valley Bears
The Bears start the season with a new setter – and a freshman setter at that.
Shannon Giusti has done well in that role and, despite being in her first year of high school, she already is an experienced setter.
“She’s been involved in club since I had her on my 12-and-under team,” coach Chad Coupland said. “She played on a different club this year, and she got a lot of setting in. She was on a team that got to go to the Volleyball Festival in Reno, Nev., and got some great experience in that tournament.
“She’s doing a good job. She’s a real hard worker, and the kids are really responding to her.”
Giusti has only to look across the dinner table to spot one of her weapons – her junior sister, Allison, who starts as an outside hitter.
Senior middle hitter Kristin Telin also comes off a strong summer of club volleyball and a trip to the Reno festival.
Last year the Bears were in the thick of the Greater Spokane League playoff hunt until the final week, finishing seventh with a record of 7-6. The two teams that finished ahead of Central Valley, University and Gonzaga Prep, both placed at the state tournament.
“That gives you an idea of just how good this league is,” Coupland said.
East Valley Knights
Coach Jim Dorr’s squad is young. Very young.
Out of 10 spots on the varsity, seven belong to sophomores.
But they’re experienced sophomores.
“This is our first sixth-grade group coming through that’s played club volleyball,” Dorr said. “These girls all have very good ball-handling skills and their volleyball IQ is much higher than we’ve had in past years. These girls all can play multiple positions.”
Sophomores Kelsey Kurtz and Desi Rainey will take over the job of setter.
“They’ve both spent a lot of time working with setting coaches,” Dorr said. “They’ve both played a lot of club volleyball, and they’ve both been coming in Tuesdays and Thursdays over the summer.”
The state’s experiment with allowing liberos to serve will aid the Knights.
Senior Pam Eatock is a three-year starter at libero who helped lead the VIP team to an 11th place finish at the prestigious Reno Volleyball Festival Tournament.
“She’s one of our two best servers, so allowing her to serve is almost like adding an extra player to our bench,” Dorr said.
The libero, a defensive specialist who enters and re-enters the game without having to check in to play the back row, now can be inserted into the serving rotation.
“Once she’s in the rotation, she has to keep serving in that spot,” Dorr said. “Being able to use her serve off the bench in addition to being the libero is a big plus.”
Sophomores Amanda Hiebert, a middle blocker, and Justine Simpson, an outside hitter, both start their second year on the East Valley varsity.
Junior Katie Arnold, a three-year veteran 5-foot-7 outside hitter, was ill during the initial tryout, but is set to join the varsity this week.
University Titans
For the first time in a long time, coach Amanda Velasquez is looking for a new setter.
A year ago the Titans finished sixth at the State 4A tournament behind four-year starting setter Kara Krisp, a first-team All-GSL pick.
“It’s a little strange, not having that veteran presence in the middle,” Velasquez said.
Juniors Lisa Reich and Kasey Jurich both move in from outside hitter to take over setting duties.
“We’ve had them both on the court at the same time, and I think we’ll go with that a lot,” Velasquez said. “If we go with one setter, it will be Lisa.”
Eileen Chatfield, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker, stepped into a starting role last year and, combined with 6-footer Laura Leach, gives the Titans a force in the middle.
Seniors Ashlee Valkenaar, Megan Burdick and Jill Mickelson, and juniors Diana Drury and Jessica Rasmussen all vie for starting hitter spots on the outside. Juniors Chanel Ratkovich and Hailey Parrish will each be defensive specialists.
Great Northern League
West Valley Eagles
Tuesday afternoon, the day before classes were scheduled to start at the remodeled West Valley High School, coach Drew Wendle was forced to be innovative.
“We’re being creative,” he laughed, watching his charges run through relay races while he and his assistants busied themselves assembling new, out-of-the-box volleyball nets.
The new gymnasium, the first part of the remodel to be completed, is impressive – the basketball hoops were still covered by factory sealed bags Tuesday.
The Eagles return their starting setter, Alyssa Wold, who earned the job as a freshman a year ago. Since that time she led the VIP club team to an 11th place finish at the Reno Volleyball Festival Tournament over the summer.
Also back is 6-foot senior middle hitter Rhea Woolley, and after two years worth of injuries, junior outside hitter Melissa Mauro is injury free and ready to lift off.
“Melissa is a three-sport athlete,” Wendle said. “Two years ago, during basketball season, she blew out her knee. Last year she came back and, right after the volleyball season, she blew it out again – same knee. If she had stayed healthy, she would have been right up there in the state standings in the high jump.”
Despite the knee injuries, Mauro is a leaper who will be a big threat from the outside.
Wendle said he will miss the GSL, but thinks his Eagles will still have to face tough competition night in and night out in the GNL.
Pullman, last year’s regular-season champion with an 11-1 league record, finished the season with a 26-3 record and a seventh-place finish at the state tournament. Colville, which was third in the regular season, went on to an eighth-place finish at state.
Northeast A League
Freeman Scotties
Davis has a way with setters. In the past six years, he’s coached three all-state setters.
This year he breaks in two new setters. Junior Bree Riddle and sophomore Hannah Lamon take on the job.
Senior outside hitter/middle hitter Jennessa Miller returns from last year’s seventh-place state team along with senior libero Wylie Patton. Senior Kanani Silva is a defensive specialist
Davis will look to a young group to fill out his offense. Juniors Megan Coumont, Hanna Jansen and Kelsey Scott and sophomore Leah Willard all vie for playing time at outside hitter.
The Scotties will look to repeat a season highlight last year: knock off Colfax.
“We beat them at our place – and that was the first time we’ve beaten them in a long time,” Davis said. “We had a great crowd that night and they just went nuts when we pulled that one out.”
New NEA contender Lakeside was the second-place squad last year in the GNL.
Bi-County League
Valley Christian
The Panthers knocked off Reardan at the annual Reardan kickoff tournament over the weekend and come into the 2006 season with a young but promising squad.
“We kind of surprised ourselves,” coach Carmen DeVries said. “I was really pleased with our basic defense and with the way we served.
“We ended up beating both the East Valley junior varsity and Reardan in the tournament – it’s always good to get some success like that early.”
Senior Whitney O’Reilly – Whitney Wolf her first three seasons at Valley Christian – is a four-year starter and will provide the young team with leadership.
“Whitney is just phenomenally quick,” DeVries said. “She’s really stepping up with some strong senior leadership and she’s being a little more aggressive from the service box this year.”
Setter Kayle Combs is a freshman and so are her middle hitters. Sydney Eggleston is strong off the block and 5-foot-11 Katie Worley is as athletic as she is intimidating in the middle.
Junior Jen Raymond and sophomores Sarah Baker and Jessica Baldwin give the team some experience in the back row.