State-End of the 2011 Season

We took it on the road one more time and headed down to State in Olympia.  It was great to be back on the big stage.

Best way to put the 2 Day Experience, A Roller-Coaster, but one Ride I would do over and over again.

We lost our 1st match in 5. Played hard but came up short.  We then went out and looked to be effectively done in our 2nd Match, but found a fire deep inside and pulled out a thrilling down 0-2 to come out 3-2 victory and a shot to play on the 2nd Day.

We loved it and we went down and cheered on the Football team that night, who was playing in Tumwater.  They had an amazing game, much congrats to them.

Day 2, saw us come out and play hard, but it wasn't enough to over take Black Hills and with a 0-3 Match loss we ended a wonderful 2011 VB Season.  We finished tied for 12th and played on the last day of organized HS VB in the State.

As I look back over the last 10-11 Weeks, I am filled with much Joy for all this team went out an accomplished.  They played as a team and never gave up on each other.

I want to Thank Tory, Madeline, Sami, Morgan, Beth, Angelina, Sarah, Annie, Amanda, Alex, Marea, and Hannah for giving of your time and effort to help build this program into what it is today.  I owe you all a sincere debt of gratitude.

I also want to thank Greg, could not have come close to doing all this without your help and feedback throughout the year,  Your the best GP!!!!!

Lastly, but not least, I want to thank the hardwork of the JV team this year.  Sarah has alot to be proud of, as do the rest of us. I also want to give a sincere thanks to the JVC kids and our new coach Mary Kay for working hard and going up against the odds week in and week out, but doing it with a smile and positive determination.

We will put the final wrap on the 2011 season with the VB Banquet next week at school and then put it all to bed until 2012 rolls around.

Thanks to all who followed the Blog this year and apologize for being behind on postings at time.

Thank you all and See you in the gym........

District Wrap-Up

Alittle late in getting this posted, but things have been alittle hectic as we roll into another week of practice and why are we practicing you say, because the AMHS Varsity Volleyball team played and EPIC 5 set match against SWHS last Saturday with loser out and winner to state and we pulled it off.

All I am going to say about the match is, it was the greatest match I had been involved with, with regards to a conference opponent, in my 3 years here at Archbishop Murphy.  You throw out all the head to head and just get down to the heart of the matter, who will dig the deepest and find a way to win and we did, by ending the 5 Set on a 7-0 run, after being 3 pts away from elimination and winning 15-12!!!!

It was a great win and also a heartfelt loss for 2 great Seniors from SWHS- Linden Firethorne and Brittany Woods.  These 2 Seniors have helped to grow the Cascade Conference Volleyball scene since I have been here as a coach and I can't thank them enough for their athletic ability and drive and desire, they will be greatly missed.

As we came down off of that great match we played our 3rd/4th place consolation against Sehome, which they won in 4 and we finished 4th.

Now we set our site on one more weekend- STATE!!!!!

Hope to see you all at Evergreen State College next Friday as we take on White River in our 1st Match at 9:45 on Ct. 2

See you all in the Gym.......

DAY 1 of Districts is in the Books

We took the little White Bus to SWHS yesterday to start our Journey into the District Playoffs.

The makeup of the team has shifted some over the last week as we have incurred some injuries to key players on our team, so the dynamics have had to shift some.

We came out in  the 1st match against Sehome, from the NWC. 

I knew it would come down to who could stop whose OH's on the night.  The Match went back and forth, we won the 1st set, they won the 2nd set, we won the 3rd, they won the 4th and it came down to one game to 15 for the win.

Their OH's were putting some good swings down and we had a tough time adjusting to their spots where they were hitting them and in the end, they took the 5th set and the match.

We moved to the 2nd round with a good sense of what we needed to do and looked forward to the match against Lakewood.

Lakewood came out fast in the 1st set and took a quick lead.  I explained to the Girls it is not about Skill at this point, it is about Will and Desire.  Whoever can tap the emotion will have the ability to succeed. 

We righted the ship and found our Passion.  We played well and took the match in 3 straight sets.

So it is on to Saturday and a match against South Whidbey, winner to State!!!!

Thanks for everyone's support and I will see YOU IN THE GYM THIS SATURDAY!!!!

2011 Conference Season comes to a Close

We took it on the road for the last time in Conference play for 2011 and headed across the water to SWHS.

It was the last match for our JVC and JV kids.

JVC played some great cohesive VB and showed how you can fight through injuries and play with limited bodies on the bench and ended their Season with a 2-1 Set and Match victory.

Congrats to Mary Kay and her wonderful group of Kids- Monica, Maddie, Jillian, Malia, Julia, Jassmyn, Hannah, and the wounded Warriors- Chloe and Teresa.  Great Year with a very composed, Hard Working Team!!!!!

The JV team found the last match to be a tougher road to plow and in the end lost 1-2.  They had sustained some late season injuries and the rotation were shifted to offset this and they battled with it and getting a feel for it, so much commendably respect for fighting hard through it.

I want to thank Sarah for coaching the JV team this year, along with her players- Allie, Ria, Paula, Caroline, Abby, Rachael, Colette, and Catherine.  Great work put in this year.

The Varsity took part in their 2nd Senior Night on the road and we want to thank the SW VB Team for honoring our 6 Seniors at the start of the ceremony last night. 

Once the ceremony was completed, the match started and we came out and played some amazing cohesive Volleyball in the 1st Set.  Everything was clicking and we came away with a 25-7 set 1 win.

Set 2 saw us in get in our groove, but also saw SW start to move the ball around.  They made one run on us, but then Beth stepped in and put up a couple of blocks and then we started clicking again.  Behind some solid hitting of Amanda and defense by Hannah, we pulled away and took the second set 25-18

The 3rd set, saw SW go for broke.  Sometimes when you play with such a heightened sense of urgency, you can bring the Energy back, which they did.  Riding their Seniors they took the third set 25-16.

The 4th Set, saw us get back to playing our consistent defense.  We put a good run on them when we were down 5-6 and from there we never looked back and kept doing the little things that builds our confidence (Good Serving, Good Defense, Solid Hitting).  We took the fourth set 25-18 and the match 3-1.

We put an end on another successful Conference Season, where we went 12-2.

Next up- Rd 1 of Districts on Nov 2nd. 

The brackets should be posted in full by this Friday.  The Brackets are located on the following URL- http://www.cascadeathletics.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=429&sport=10

SENIOR NIGHT 2011

I am always amazed of the outpouring of affection the Girls bestow upon each other.  They truly love each other and it showed as 6 players showered 6 Seniors with Love, Laughter, Tears, and some nice goodies on their Senior Night.

I take a moment to thank:

Sarah Jamieson
Great Player, Great Person.  Someone I will miss as a part of this Group

Annie Schmidt
Came back to VB last year and I am so grateful for that.  She makes each day a great Day and I will always remember that.

Marea Homes
True Competitor who goes hard all the time and at the same time has a deep genuine compassion for her teammates and life in general.  I will always be humble because of Marea

Amanda Marvin
True Shining Spirit.  Great Competitor and a huge Heart.  She has given me the ability to learn about Kindness
 
Alex Flake
She is hard on herself, but only because she cares so deeply for her teammates and this program.  She has true Compassion and I will always remember how fortunate I have been to be a part of her life

Hannah Linsenmayer
She has been on Varsity since I 1st Started here.  She has shown me the ropes and her professionalism has shone through since day one.  She has a kind soul and is wise beyond her years.  I will always take a sense of pride to have Hannah blaze a trail for this program for the future and I am proud I was here for her time now.

So we did play some VB.  Lakewood came to town and we honored 3 Seniors players and 2 Senior Managers for their team, as they have earned our respect over the years and they deserved some recognition.

The Girls gave beautiful speeches and I will always remember, Morgan speech starting with "Annnie, I wrote you a Poem"  It was a great poem, as were all the other tributes.

Once we got down to the match, we hit the ground running and kept Lakewood on their heals the entire 1st set and we won 25-9.

Set 2, I mixed the lineups up, something I seem to do every Senior Night with not alot of success as we came out alittle unbalanced and lost the set 21-25.

We mixed it back up and it was back and forth in the 3rd, but we got some amazing defense by Annie and Hannah and pulled out the set 25-23.

4th set had the Seniors back in there ready to go again and they led the way and we closed out the 4th set 25-12 and the match 3-1.

We ended the Home season 6-1.  We had some amazing fans, many great moments, capped off by another remarkable Senior Night!!!!

We take it on the road to South Whidbey to finish out Conference play next Tuesday.

See you all in the Gym.....

10.18.11-KINGS!!!!!

Took it on the road to the confines of Kings HS.

As always we look forward to the incredible competition we provide each other.

JVC/JV- Fought hard and both teams are playing short-handed, but made the most of their opportunities to step up and work together.  In the End the abundance of Kings players were too much for our girls and both team last their Matches.  Valiant Effort!!!!

The Varsity came into the night playing with "House Money" and nothing to Lose and after we graciously sat there while 9 Seniors for Kings were honored, we came out with intensity.  We were not going to let them have this match, if they wanted it, they had to take it from us.

We jumped out to an early lead in the 1st game and Kings found themselves on their heals.  We kept the lead most of the way through the 1st Game, behind some amazing defense. We had a 23/21/19 Ball rally in the 1st Set alone.  Kings started chipping away late in the game and they came up with 2 runs that were the difference and we lost the 1st set 21-25

The 2nd Set was back and forth and we rode the wave of Marea and her Warrior spirit to keep fighting.  It was back and forth late and we had a 19/18/18/16 Ball rally in the set, yet we came up 2 points short 23-25

In between sets 2-3 the entire team pulled themselves in tight and focused on the energy of the core.  The bench was driving a positive flow that kept building throughout the 3rd set.  We came out on fire again, behind the hitting of Marea and the defense of Hannah.  Amanda, Beth, Morgan, and Sarah kept swinging away.  The balanced attack that Kings had that night was just a hair better than we were and in the end, they took the 3rd set 19-25, and the match 3-0.

All in all on the night, it felt like we played 10 sets.  The rallies were never ending.  The Energy was AWESOME!!!!

All 12 players, whether they were on the floor or on the bench, helped to drive us to compete at the highest level and we did.  We might not have won the match by the numbers, but we won the match of Will, Desire and Heart.

Perfect Segway to Senior Night......

Sultan comes to Archbishop Murphy

Thursday night saw the Turks of Sultan come to Archbishop Murphy.

I could sense some good energy by the JVC team when I arrived and felt they were in for a big night and I was right.

Madeline led off the 1st game going for 10pts on her serve, coupled with some good defense to keep the drive alive.  They kept the big Mo going in won the 1st Set going away.

The 2nd Set found them still in a groove.  Sultan put in a late charge, but they couldn't topple our kids and Jillian served an Ace to win the 2nd Set.

The 3rd set, saw the same drive and power as the sets 1 and 2 and in the end, the game away with a 3 Set Match Sweep.

These young women, have been road warriors, playing anyone, anytime, anywhere.  The Wins on the scoresheet have not shown up, but the determination and drive to get better, shows me the true winning spirit they have inside of them.  GREAT JOB GIRLS!!!!!

The JV had alittle trick up their sleeve that they were going to pull last night, which they had been working on in practice- Allow Rachael to set in one spot and have Abby hit.  Worked like a champ and they cruised to the 1st Set Victory.

Set #2, saw them cruising and trying some new things.  Sultan put a run in the end of the game, but it wasn't enough and we won Set 2.

Set 3 was a mirror of Set 2 and in the end they JV Girls pulled away with a 3-0 Set Sweep and Match Win.

The Varsity took the floor determined to take care of business.  It took alittle motivating and they pulled out the 1st Set 25-15. 

As I talked to them between Set 1 and 2, I reminded them of all the hardwork and effort they put forward in practice and to use that as motivation to go out and play hard.  They responded and took Set 2- 25-8.

The 3rd Set was back and forth through the 1st half of it and Sultan was starting to do some good things.  We turned up the defense and in the end pulled away 25-19 to take Set 3 and the Match.

We look to Saturday and traveling to Monore for the Bearcat Invitational.  The last Tournament of the Season.

Hope to see you all in the Gym......