Spartans adjusting well to new volleyball coach | FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

Published 11:03 am Saturday, September 19, 2015

It took about a week for the shock to wear off.

But now, the Spartans are settling in — and quite comfortably, mind you, if the results from the first week of volleyball action are any indication.

Holly Rohrbacher is the new head coach of the Bainbridge varsity girls volleyball team, and the girls are off to a stellar start. The Spartans have already notched wins over Olympic, South Kitsap and Kingston, and there were also moments of inspired play during last weekend’s Kitsap Classic tournament.

A former standout for Washington State University volleyball team — Rohrbacher was a starter for the Cougars in her four years as a middle hitter for the WSU volleyball team during the 1999-2002 seasons — Rohrbacher took over the coaching duties from Julie Miller and is ready for her first year along the Spartan sideline.

She’s not new to the demands of coaching, however. Rohrbacher has been the head volleyball coach at Foster High and Port Townsend High. And at Bainbridge, she’s inheriting a team with some seasoned veterans as well as some skilled younger players.

The squad is a mix of seven upperclassmen and seven sophomores.

The team includes seniors Sage Wolter (right side hitter), Riley Kulfan (outside hitter), Kate Merifield (libero), Tori McDonald (defensive specialist), Hannah Brubeck (defensive specialist) and Jordan Maria (outside hitter); and junior Anna Jones (middle hitter).

The sophomores on the team are Olivia Marshall (defensive specialist), Erica Sprott (setter), Maggie Sweeney (outside hitter), Mary Burgess (right side hitter), Taylor Jumpa (outside hitter), Grace Hall (middle hitter) and Sydney Maria (middle hitter).

“It’s a good mixture of young and old,” Rohrbacher said.

“We’re really trying to develop what I would call a volleyball culture — both at Bainbridge High and on the island,” she explained. “We talk a lot about what it means to be a Lady Spartan volleyball player; both on and off the court. My goal is to create a program that has a large breadth and depth.”

“We talk a lot about the ‘we’ before ‘me’ team concept,” she said.

Rohrbacher said she’s relying on the help of her two captains — Kulfan and Brubeck — but she’s had great buy-in from players up and down the varsity roster.

Kulfan’s play will be one of the keys to the Spartans’ success this year.

“She’ll carry a lot of the load, offensively,” Rohrbacher said. “She plays all the way around; she doesn’t come out.”

The team will also lean on Sprott, the team’s setter, and Merifield as libero, in addition to the team’s cadre of younger players.

Rohrbacher said she likes what she’s seen so far.

“We are playing good in-system volleyball,” she said of the Spartans’ ability to pass the ball to where the setter wants it. “We’re disciplined, and we play with a lot of control.”

“My team is really good at it so far. We’re hopeful that it will carry us for a while, all the way to state.”

The Spartans’ ability to extend the rally will also be crucial.

“You can’t teach tall. We’re not the tallest team and so we really have to focus on keeping the ball off our side and returning the ball,” she Rohrbacher said.

“Our hitting is good, but we are going to need to be able to put a ball away,” she said.

Some questions that may have lingered at the start of the season have slipped away.

“It was definitely weird the first week,” Kulfan said, with changes in drills and warmups, and she added that the new direction of the program has players excited.

Brubeck, her fellow co-captain, agreed there was a bit of shock.

“As seniors, we had bonded with the previous coach. It was a hard adjustment at first, but I’m really liking what Holly brings to the program. I think it’s going to be really great for the future,” Brubeck said.

Rohrbacher said her expectations for herself as a first-year coach have changed a little bit.

“Before I came into it, I thought that it would be much more like, ‘This is not a democracy,’” she said.

Instead, it’s become a bit more collaborative and Rohrbacher has been seeking input often.

“There are some parts, it’s not a democracy. And then other parts, I’ll say, ‘What did you think of that? Is that working for you?’”

Any mystery that surrounds this year’s season stems from Rohrbacher’s inward — rather than outward — focus on her team.

“I really have no idea where we rank against other teams. So that can be both nerve-wracking but also opportunistic.

“Because I don’t really care. Everybody, to me, is new. In my mind, every game is winnable,” she said.

Making it to the state tournament, however, is a goal that they’ve talked about.

“We set the expectation that we will go to state. And at the same time, we had a tournament last weekend and one time, I had to call a timeout.

“We were down. And I said, ‘Guys, are you giving it your best?’ And they said, ‘Yes, coach.’ And I believed them. And I said, ‘Are we having fun?’

“And they said yes. And I said, ‘Is there anything else we could be doing?’ And they said, no, and I said, ‘Well, then, it sounds like you’re going to get back out and keep doing it.’

“And we won.”

Improving the play of the team will be based on measurable goals set for each game, the coach said.

“Honestly, there’s going to be limits on how far we can get based on what we’re capable of, and what the other team is doing, but I can’t see why we couldn’t go to state,” Rohrbacher said.

“If we continue to play the kind of volleyball that I’ve seen in the first couple of weeks, I have full confidence that that’s possible.”