Mt. Spokane volleyball’s Allen sisters lead through performance, example

Tia and Teila Allen have been playing volleyball together most of their lives.

While that won’t necessarily change after Tia graduates this year – leaving Teila as the senior leader for Mt. Spokane next season – it will be different.

“We play beach (volleyball) together all the time,” Tia said on Tuesday, following the Wildcats’ sweep of Cheney in a Greater Spokane League 4A/3A matchup. “So we’ll always have that.”

“It’ll be exciting to see her go off, she’s gonna do great things are college,” Teila said. “But it’ll definitely be a different role for me.”

Tia Allen, the reigning Class 3A state player of the year, and Teila, along with libero Taylor Miche, were three all-state players returning this season for first-year head coach Laurie Quigley.

Quigley appreciates what the sisters bring to the program.

“They’re obviously phenomenal volleyball players, and even better kids,” she said. “They’re just super. They work really, really hard, and they are great teammates and great leaders and they’re just so fun to be around. And so, every day that we get to be in the gym with them is so fun.

“Tia is going to be awesome at the next level and I’m super grateful we get one more year with Taila,” Quigley said. “(Taila) obviously brings so much to us. I mean, it will be very weird, for sure. But that’s why our theme of the whole year is just ‘Appreciate it,’ because it ends really soon.”

A COVID-shortened seven-week season doesn’t leave much time for goodbyes. The Wildcats – two-time defending State 3A champions – are 8-0 and have only lost four sets this season, two to in-district rival Mead on March 4. There are two matches left before the season’s culminating event.

On top of their ability, there’s more to the sisters than what meets the eye.

“They just work so hard,” Quigley said. “I think if you’re just sort of a casual fan they just look so naturally athletic, but they’re just great teammates. It’s not just like a natural thing, they actually they work super, super hard in the gym – and it’s contagious. Our freshmen are like, ‘Oh my gosh, we want to play with them,’ because they are just such good leaders.”

The Wildcats’ dominance in the GSL and success in the postseason the past few years might make getting up for league matches with no possibility of state play challenging. But the uncertainty of this season – and the character of the players in the program – has wiped out any of that.

“I think this weird season has made it so that we just don’t take days for granted,” Quigley said. “We saw our JV team get quarantined for a week and we know that’s a reality of, you just don’t really know if you’re going to get to play the next game.

“So I feel like they just want to be here every day. And in a weird way, it’s actually made it so that there’s no complacency. They just want to be here and get everything out of this short season that we can.”

Tia Allen lamented not being able to pursue a third consecutive title.

“Yeah, it’s definitely disappointing,” she said. “Because that was our plan the whole time. But I’m just really thankful that we were able to have something at least, even if we’re not allowed to have a state and it’s a shortened season. I’m still very grateful.”

“We talked about it at the beginning of the year,” Quigley said. “But that’s not going to change. We can just take advantage of the games that we get to play and just try to enjoy being together.”

Tia and Teila felt like the transition this year from Hall of Fame coach Dave Whitehead to Quigley, an assistant for Whitehead the previous three seasons, was seamless.

“It’s still been the same as last year,” Teila Allen said. “We all love ‘Quigs’ and we’re happy that she took over.

“It’s still the same at practices. We don’t really tell the difference so I’m glad that ‘Quigs’ is here.”

“I love Laurie. She’s one of my favorites,” Tia Allen said.

“I think it’s somewhat of a different atmosphere, but they still have the same values,” Tia said. “They still push us in the same ways that they did before. So that hasn’t changed, but yeah, it’s been good this season.”

On top of the high school team, the Allens are playing with their club volleyball team as well.

”Club teams are more oriented towards specific strengths,” Tia Allen said. “I think with high school teams it’s difficult because you typically only have three months with them, so that chemistry is different than it is on a club team.”

”They’ve done a really good job of just balancing,” Quigley said. “If they need a rest day, we honor that. I’m not going to try to totally overwhelm their bodies

”It definitely threw an extra challenge in it, but it hasn’t been a huge conflict.”

Tia is orally committed to Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington. College recruitment for her, like so many others, has been complicated this year.

“Right now with COVID, the recruiting process has been extremely difficult,” she said. “The NCAA pushed back their deadline and their dead period, so it’s definitely been hard. The schools I was in contact with are just not in the right space to offer me just off of film, because they can’t come watch in person.”

With Tia off at college next season, Teila knows teams will focus more of their game plan around her.

“I’ll probably have to take over more and step up more,” she said. “But I’ll still be playing with the same core girls that I’ve been playing with my whole life. So it’ll still be fun, and I just hope that we can maintain our legacy for the next two years.”