Kent-Meridian High girls volleyball returns with an older team that coach Michael Christiansen hopes will come to a successful finish at league, district or even a state slot.
“We were young last year, we were a really young team,” Christiansen said. “I think we were a little disappointed on how we finished and how things played out, so it’s a little bit hungrier team, we have much better leaders on this team and they kinda want to come back and be better.”
Chief among Christiansen’s improvements are improving the team’s drive to compete, and making sure they keep their heads in the game during their matches. He’ll also focus on getting his players used to playing at a varsity level.
“We’re carrying 15 kids on varsity, most of those were on JV or C team last year, so they’re kind of new to the varsity level of competition,” he said. “But it’s a good group, it’s a hardworking group and we have some good leaders.”
For his team leadership, Christiansen looks to Camille Howard, Lina Siafanua and Arlee Riveland. Each player left their junior season with different ideas of how to improve. For Riveland, it was looking at how she could be a better leader to younger players.
“Last year was kind of a huge letdown,” Riveland said. “Us that are juniors and coming up as seniors, we really feel a responsibility to hold everybody else to a higher standard and not let the people below us slip down.”
Riveland says that in the middle of last season she feels the team lost focus and that dragged them down. She’s since worked to improve her leadership abilities to understand what it’s like to be a first or second year player and understand their needs, as opposed to simply being the first or best player.
While Riveland looked at leadership, Howard focused much of her postseason this year on how to improve her attitude.
“Last year I thought that everyone’s attitudes brought us down, so over the summer I worked on my attitude to be the one to bring them up when they’re down on the court,” Howard said.
She, along with other veteran players, also participated in summer volleyball leagues, and she says that the team learned better coordination and teamwork through those experiences.
“This year I think the team will be good, I feel like this year we’ve gotten better together,” Howard said.
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