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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2019)
FALL SPORTS PREVIEW 12 | THE ASTORIAN SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019 SEASIDE VOLLEYBALL Coach: Demi Lund, 2nd year 2018: 12-14 (1-7 Cowapa) Playoff s: Lost play-in match at Philomath, 0-3 All-league losses: Morgan Blodgett, Anna Huddleston, Tori Tomlin. READY FOR ‘ONE CRAZY SEASON’ All-league returners: None SCHEDULE Aug. 31 at Warrenton Tournament, TBA Sept. 3 at Stayton 6 p.m. Sept. 5 Clatskanie 6:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at Cascade Invitational, TBA Sept. 10 Rainier, at Warrenton 5:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at Warrenton 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 North Marion 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17 Gladstone 5:30 p.m. Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Volleyball players line up at the net before the ball is served during the fi rst week of practice. By GARY HENLEY The Astorian Sept. 19 at Corbett 6 p.m. Sept. 24 at Astoria 6:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at Valley Catholic 6:30 p.m. Oct. 3 Tillamook 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at Banks 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10 Astoria 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12 Seaside Tournament, TBA Oct. 15 Valley Catholic 6:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at Corbett Tournament, TBA Oct. 22 at Tillamook 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24 Banks 6:30 p.m. C hallenges? They’ve got one in Sea- side, when it comes to the upcom- ing high school volleyball season. Head coach Demi Lund had a tough task on her hands when she fi rst arrived in 2018, and it hasn’t gotten any easier going into her second y ear . First off, there’s the competition the Gulls will face in their own league. Defending state champion Valley Catholic returns with a good part of its lineup still intact, while Astoria, Banks and Tillamook are all hoping to make a big push for the post season. Then there’s the job of replacing some key losses on their roster. Seaside had three all- league players last season, and lost all three to graduation. Another key player has decided to play soccer. If that wasn’t enough, Lund is expecting her fi rst child in December. It’s “going to be one crazy season!,” she said. The 2018 Gulls fi nished 1-7 in league play, good enough to make the play-in round, where Seaside was swept in a match at Philomath. On the positive side, the Gulls still have some experience on the roster. Key returners include outside hitters Ellisa Blodgett and Emma Brown, defensive spe- cialist Andrea Castro, and setter Emma Meyer — all seniors. Junior Annaika Wunderlich will be mak- ing her varsity debut, while Sandee Adriano returns for her sophomore season. “We were extremely fortunate to have the Blodgett sisters (Morgan and Ellisa) trans- fer from Warrenton High School last sea- son,” Lund said, as Morgan ended up mak- ing all-league. “Ellissa Blodgett is projected to be one of our strongest players,” she said. “And they also have a little sister coming in as freshman who will be an asset to the program like her sisters were.” Meanwhile, Lund — who turned 28 in August — doesn’t get a lot of time to learn about being a coach in a tough league. “I am continuing to implement a fast-mov- ing offense to keep up with the teams in our league, and keep them on their toes with our defensive structure,” she said. “We still have a lot of growing to do, but I think league play will be very competitive and fun. We will see how the other teams look during our jambo- ree (Aug. 29 at Seaside).” As a second-year varsity coach, “I am still trying to develop a completely new program from scratch here at Seaside,” Lund said. “My goal is to keep my girls very well conditioned to go those long fi ve-game sets if needed. My girls have a lot of heart and passion, and I am so excited to see what this season has in store for us.”
