Canby Herald Online

Starting out strong

Canby volleyball team out to fast start in conference season

• By: John Baker  
• Published: 9/22/2009 3:30:47 PM

Photo By: Pat JohnsonTeamwork
(From left) Canby senior Nicole Schwend, junior Taylor Preuitt and senior Katrina Zens (14) go up for the block on McMinnville junior Rebecca Carter during the Cougars’ easy sweep over the Grizzlies, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22, last Thursday at home.

The first two weeks of the season have been a bit of a discovery process for the Canby High volleyball team.

The Cougars have opened 3-1, but coach Bryan Kamahoahoa said his team is definitely a work in progress right now.

“We’re kind of a young-minded team and lack discipline and focus at times,” he said. “Sometimes, the quickness of the game overwhelms us a bit.”

The Cougars opened Pacific Conference play Thursday with a three-game sweep of McMinnville in the conference opener, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22.

“We had spurts of greatness, but also had some struggles with decision-making at times,” said Kamahoahoa. “In one game we were up 17-3, then we let them come back and get close. When they focus and play with discipline, they play well.”

It’s something that Kamahoahoa said he’s been stressing in practice since the season’s opening week. It’s coming, he said, slowly but surely.

“It wasn’t the prettiest match, but we won it,” he said. “It showed that we’d been working on some things like defense and blocking. It’s coming, I saw some improvement.”

Kamahoahoa was pleasantly surprised by the play of defensive specialist Kara Hein, who filled in against McMinnville and did a very good job.

He added that Ashley Bugni, Nicole Schwend and Katrina Zens all had solid moments during the match.
Zens led the offense with eight kills.

“She got a big arm,” said the coach. “If you don’t get up and block her, she can put a hurtin’ on somebody.”

Bugni, said the coach, showed more discipline in her transition from defense to offense, giving a much better defensive performance against the Grizzlies. Schwend added some solid blocking and a few kills to the evening.

Tineke Bierma added eight kills to the effort as well.

On Tuesday night, the Cougars dropped a four-game match to Jesuit, a team that Kamahoahoa thinks is one of the top teams in the state.

“We won the first game but then they blew us away in the next three,” he said. “We saw that young-minded thing clearly and we got back in the gym and worked hard on blocking and defense.

“I’m seeing little gains,” he added. “I think in another month I’ll be able to tell how we’re doing in terms of the rest of the state.”

During the first week of the season, Canby dispatched Southridge in three games and Westview in five.
Kamahoahoa described both teams as pretty good and thought the wins showed promise. The future, though, will depend on how quickly his team matures and comes to grip with the pace of play at this level.

“To play at the highest levels of 6A, it’s a really fast game,” he explained. “Some of the kids are overwhelmed by the speed and pace I want them to play and practice at. Some are starting to adjust, but others are still struggling with it. Because the speed of play is so fast, some of the things we need to do on offense and defense aren’t getting done.

“As they adjust, they’ll be able to focus on defense and offense instead of just hoping to get halfway to the spot,” he added. “I keep seeing little gains in that area.”

This week the Cougars take to the road with a Tuesday match at Tualatin and a Thursday trip to Forest Grove.

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