Coach Winn sets lofty goals for his experienced Eagles
By Pete Borello, Town Crier Staff Writer
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An aura of urgency surrounds this year’s Los Altos High girls volleyball team.
“We have tremendous experience and we have to harness it,” said Eagles head coach Dave Winn, who has a roster dominated by seniors. “We won’t have it again.”
Meaning this year could be Los Altos’ best shot at winning the SCVAL De Anza Division in some time.
It’s far from a clear shot, however, thanks to that powerhouse public school at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
“Our main competition this year will continue to be perennial juggernaut Los Gatos,” Winn said. “They are the odds-on favorite to win the SCVAL De Anza this year.”
Winn sees the division as a two-team race between his team and those pesky Wildcats, who edged out the Eagles for the league crown last season.
“Joe Ripp is a great coach and he’s got tremendous athletes,” Winn said of Los Gatos’ longtime coach. “They have too many weapons to stop at times. We won’t out-hit them, so we’ll need to play great defense and dig a lot of balls to beat them.”
The teams squared off last Saturday in the semifinals of the Milpitas Spikefest, with Los Gatos winning in three games. Los Altos, squandering a 10-6 lead in the deciding game, wound up placing fourth in the tournament’s Gold Division.
The Eagles won’t meet the Wildcats again until Sept. 30 in a league match at Los Altos. Before that, the Eagles face some other daunting challenges. On Thursday, for instance, Los Altos plays a 6:45 p.m. non-league match at reigning Division I state champion St. Francis.
“We’d like to play better against them than we did last year when they beat us in three games,” Winn said.
Los Altos potentially could go up against St. Francis again in the Central Coast Section playoffs since both teams will be playing in Division III this year. Presentation — which has dominated the Eagles in recent years and beat them in last year’s CCS Division III finals — also will be in this playoff bracket, shaping up to be among the toughest in the CCS.
It’s a good thing for Los Altos, then, that it will take on these challenges with what Winn said might be the most experienced team in school history. The roster comprises seven seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and a pair of freshmen. Eight of the 13 players started matches last year and all of them played club volleyball over the summer.
“In terms of experience, I couldn’t ask for more,” Winn said.
The starting outside hitters are seniors Allie Miller and Ashley Watson, both first-team all-league selections in 2002.
“We will be relying on their arms heavily to take the place of graduating (all-leaguer) Ashley Bjorklund,” Winn said.
Watson led the team in kills a year ago and Winn expects the player he affectionately called “our workhorse” to top the team in this category again this season. The Eagles’ second-year coach described Miller as “an incredible leaper” who doesn’t swing as hard as Watson but has a knack for putting the ball where defenders are not.
Playing right side/opposite the hitter is Juli Winterbotham, a senior Winn considers the team’s most improved player. A middle blocker last year, Winterbotham switched positions during the club season and thrived at her new spot. “She has quickness, hitting power and blocking,” Winn said.
This leaves returners Lauren Schaefer (a 6-foot-2 junior) and Kathryn Chomko (a 5-11 senior) to play in the middle.
“Both provide tall blocks, in addition to being able to put the ball away on attack,” Winn said.
The setting duties will again be handled by junior Michelle Nelson, named honorable mention all-league a season ago.
Winn admitted the Eagles “don’t have a tremendously deep bench” — especially at middle blocker — but he does expect the team’s three other returning players and four newcomers to contribute.
Winn said senior Mandy Burke “is a strong utility player able to jump in at outside, right side and defensive specialist as needed.” Becky Slack is the primary defensive specialist, with fellow senior Rebecca Patterson filling in on the right side.
New to the squad are junior Haley Lerch and sophomore Hannah Lippe, along with freshmen Erin and Emily Saliba, sisters who played on an under-14 club team that reached the recent Junior Nationals. Erin is the backup setter; Emily will come in as a defensive specialist.
Whether the Eagles have enough to match last year’s success (23-13 record and a berth in Northern California playoffs) — or exceed it — won’t be known until late November. But Winn has set lofty goals for his squad: winning the league, reaching the CCS finals for the sixth straight year and going past the first round of NorCals for the first time since 1999.
“All of this will depend on our ability to stay healthy and stay consistent with our serve receive and defense,” he said.
