2B | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Volleyball
from 1B
the small amount of time
that we have.”
Because the school was
technically still considered
to be in an ‘extreme-risk’
county pending yesterday’s
(Feb. 26) movement day,
the team could not practice
as a whole group until then.
“Friday, we were able to
practice as a whole group
for the first time, which
was good. That's what we
need,” said Cole. “It's going
to be a hard season with
only five practices before
our first game. We're going
to work it out, but it's going
to be difficult.
Cole sad the team faces
other challenges over the
next six weeks of play, but
that most of the teams in
league are in the same. “So,
we're all kind of on the
same playing field, which is
good. We're going to use
every minute of every prac-
tice we can get just to try to
dial everything in to where
we want it,” said Cole.
The Viks have a solid
group of 15 players on the
squad this year, but this
year’s roster is young, with
only one senior and three
juniors. Despite the team’s
youth, Cole said it’s a team
in which she sees a lot of
potential.
“I'm looking forward to
actually putting that put-
ting that to test,” Cole said.
Since the team is young-
er, and practices have been
restricted to small numbers
indoors, Cole has been tak-
ing the time to work on
fundamentals.
“We're more working on
certain aspects of the game
rather than putting it in
more of a play style game,”
Cole explained. “We're
doing a lot of defensive
work as groups, and we're
just now starting to get into
a full court of six, and actu-
ally putting it all together
and working on the certain
defenses and offenses and
all of that.
“It's a little bit challeng-
ing with some of the girls
that aren't as experienced
yet. You can't really just
jump right into three-on-
three or anything like that,
so we're trying to work
through that.”
Cole noted that several of
her players are showing
great promise for the sea-
son. Among them, front
row players Kya Blake and
Desiree Tupua — each of
whom have played some
club volleyball during their
downtime, “So they’ve still
been in it a little bit more
than some of the other
girls,” said Cole.
Leading Siuslaw’s setting
will be Zoe Alberty, with
Hayden Muller back in the
libero spot. “She's pretty
amazing back there,” Cole
said of Muller.
A
t Mapleton High
School, coach Molly
Dooley has been fortunate
enough to utilize an out-
door net, so the team has
been able to practice as a
whole group despite the
fact that they have been an
extreme-risk county.
“We have been practicing
outside, and we're really
lucky that we were able to
get an outdoor net, which
has been really great for us,”
said Dooley. “We're able to
get in some drills that
involve the net and work
through all of the plays and
rotations to make sure that
we're on point with that.”
Dooley said one unfortu-
nate part of the new guide-
lines will be the shortened
season (six weeks total),
which gives them just one
week of solid indoor prac-
tice before squaring up
against their first oppo-
nent on March 11 at Siletz
High School. “So, it's real-
ly important to start get-
ting our rotations going so
once we're in the gym, we
can get it going full force,”
Dooley said.
Although there are lim-
its to practicing volleyball
outdoors, Dooley said she
is just grateful to be able to
get her team working out
as a group again.
“At first we were just
doing a lot of condition-
ing, because the last time
they had a practice or a
sports season was last year
in February with basket-
ball,” Dooley said. “And
then we had one week of
track. The most important
part to begin with was to
get them back to doing
physical activity — espe-
cially in a group setting.
So, we're really fortunate
that we were able to be
outside and get some run-
ning in, some jumping,
some push-ups and sit-
ups.”
The Lady Sailors will
have nine players on this
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season’s roster, comprised
mostly of seniors and
juniors. The team’s maturi-
ty is a feature Dooley is
looking forward to seeing
play out on the court.
“We have three seniors
this year,” said Dooley.
“Emily Stevens has been on
the team for four years
now. Her hitting has been
great recently in practice.
She's really starting to con-
trol her power, and she’s
getting [the ball] to the
spots that we want it to be.”
Another senior for the
Sailors is Briena Jensen,
now in her third year with
the team after playing for
Triangle Lake as a fresh-
man her first year. The
team’s third senior is
Heather Wierichs, who is
in her second year at
Mapleton after transferring
from Willamette High
School as a sophomore.
“So, what I'm really look-
ing for with them is they're
going to be bringing in
experience and leadership,
which I'm really excited to
see,” Dooley said of the
team’s senior trio.
Dooley noted the prom-
ise of the four juniors on
her team as well, which
includes Brier Shird, Opal
Burruss, Summer Flansberg
and Jahala Blake. “The last
time they were in a sport,
they were underclassmen,
this is going to be their first
sport where they're the
upperclassmen.
Said
Dooley. “I'm really interest-
ed to see what leadership
skills developed in this
time — especially because I
haven't seen them playing
in a sport for almost a year
now.
“I've been seeing all this
improvement where they've
gone from being a younger
player to being this more
experienced upper class-
man, which is just cool to
see.”
Rounding out the roster
are two players who are
both new to the game:
freshman Kylee Carson
and senior Jadah Harper.
“This will be both girls’
first year playing,” said
Dooley. “But they're
already making huge
improvements, which is
great to see. “It's really fun
to see this new team
dynamic that is happen-
ing.”
As far as gameplay,
Dooley anticipates growing
strength on offense with
her front row. Aside from
senior Emily Stevens, the
juniors on the team are
showing improvements
already.
“I’m excited to see what
power our hitters are going
to have,” said Dooley. “Our
juniors coming up. Before,
they've been a little bit
more hesitant with the hit-
ting. [Now,] they're getting
so much more confident
with getting it down, and
it's good to see.”
Siuslaw and Mapleton
are clearly eager to play the
season and get back to the
court.
Siuslaw High School
plays its first game Tuesday,
March 2, at home against
Marist Catholic High
School. First serve goes up
at 6:45 p.m. Mapleton High
School’s first game is
Tuesday, March 9, when
the Sailors host Siletz High
School beginning at 6 p.m.
Due to current guide-
lines — as with all sporting
events this season —no
spectators are allowed to
attend.
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GO, TEAMS!
We hope all
of our student
athletic teams
have a ball
this year!
We applaud
each student
athlete’s hard
work and
dedication both
on and off the
fi eld, and we
wish you much
success in the
coming season.
Good Luck!
HIGH WAVES CAN REACH YOU
Tides and waves can sweep over rocks, jetties and
headlands, knocking you off and carrying you out
to sea.
How to play it safe: Assume nothing is “high
enough” and avoid exposed rocks, jetties and
headlands during strong wave action (like during
and after storms).
BEWARE OF HIGH, STEEP CLIFFS
Assume that all cliff edges are unstable. Wet trails
or soft sand and earth can make for unstable
footing. Rocks can be slippery even when it isn’t
raining.
How to play it safe: Make sure you wear proper
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fences and railings, and don´t get too close to the
edge.
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