 |
| JEROME A.POLLOS/Press Third-year Post Falls coach Willow Hanna. |
Post Falls mixed the right ingredients together to create the volleyball team's first trip to state
since 1991
By MARK NELKE
Sports editor
Take a half-dozen seniors, three of which have pretty much played volleyball together year-round since seventh grade.
Sprinkle in a few club volleyball coaches to help give the girls more experience outside of the high school season.
Mix in a very driven head coach who once played in the program.
And add in some old shorts for good luck, and what do you have?
A Post Falls High volleyball program making its first trip to state in 18 years.
"We wanted to make a big impact, and show our school that volleyball is big here," senior outside hitter Danielle Meehan said.
This year, Post Falls won the 5A Inland Empire League for its first league title in school history. The Trojans took second in the Region 1 tournament to earn a spot in this week's state tournament at Lake City High. It's the school's first since 1991, and only the third state berth in school history.
Post Falls (27-8) opens state play Friday at 10 a.m. vs. Centennial (27-8) of Meridian. The double-elimination tournament runs through Saturday.
"I think we've certainly taught a lot of technique, and I've tried to provide lots of opportunities for them to play," said Willow Hanna, a 1995 Post Falls High graduate and in her third season as the Trojans' head coach. "I think we've had some great club coaches along the way, and some great coaches at the junior high that have helped these kids get ready.
"The other thing we've been trying to teach a lot is character, trying to teach a passion for the game and hard work and all those things they can carry on in life, but they're putting it on the court now as well."
WHEN MEEHAN, setter/right side hitter Jalana White and middle blocker Andrea Mohney were in the seventh grade, the parents of current Trojan sophomore Tori Bertsch and 2009 Post Falls graduate Ashley Bertsch started the Post Falls Volleyball Club.
"That was the best thing for our program. I think that's where we developed our skills to get to where we are today," Meehan said.
One of their club coaches was Karla Merrill, longtime Post Falls varsity coach, who guided that 1991 team to state, and coached the Trojans through the 1999 season before heading into administration.
Prior to this season, she pulled Meehan, White and Mohney into her office and talked to them about the importance of leading the team as seniors.
"She's like the queen of volleyball," Mohney said. "She has that fun vibe -- sarcastic, but serious."
White is in her third year on the varsity, Meehan her second. Mohney came up from the junior varsity for regionals at the end of her sophomore season. White is the Trojans' career leader in assists, and Mohney, with her hard topspin, curving serve, shattered the career ace record earlier this season. Meehan and White are 2-3 in career kills, and Meehan is on the all-time top-10 list in digs.
"Dani's a hard worker, you get what you get from Dani," Hanna said. "You're going to see 100 percent from her, 100 percent of the time. She's a go-getter, she's kind of a go-to girl. She gives us a spark.
"Andrea's kind of our cheerleader," Hanna said. "They look to her for that inspiration. She blew our ace record out of the water; she's over 180 right now, the previous record was 108.
"Jalana is a very driven player, kind of that quiet, serious person who steps on the court and has a job to do," Hanna said. "I certainly appreciate her leadership."
The other three seniors -- outside hitter Christine Dietz, libero Marian de Tar and middle blocker Rebecca Bauman -- also have put a lot of time in the program. Last Friday was de Tar's 18th birthday, making her the only member of the current team who was born when Post Falls placed third at state in 1991.
POST FALLS had posted five straight losing seasons when Hanna, who played on the Trojan varsity in 1992, '93 and '94, took over as head coach.
"I just felt like the whole attitude of the program changed, especially with the upperclassmen," said White, who was a sophomore on Hanna's first team. "They were more motivated to work harder just because there was a new coaching staff ... they were open to change."
"She came in and she just has that fire about her," Meehan said. "She just has that passion for the game, and it motivates you to work twice as hard. She works so hard for us."
"Before, practices seemed more like open gym, and just to play, and when Willow came in it was like, we're ready to work, we're ready to win," Mohney said.
Hanna played three years at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., and eventually returned to the area in 2002. She was an assistant coach at Coeur d'Alene High for four seasons, during which time longtime Post Falls assistant coach Greg Cossette kidded her that she still bled orange underneath that blue.
"Yeah, whatever," Hanna said.
Two years later, Hanna was back wearing orange and black.
"When we came here, kids weren't allowed to roll," Hanna said. "They weren't allowed to go to the floor because that meant they weren't playing well enough. That was a big thing in the first couple of years that you have to go to the floor, you have to have that heart for pursuing balls, make sure that you're protecting your court."
And, as Meehan notes, the players have to hit the floor in practice now -- because they know if they don't, their coach will.
"I think she's just as competitive as when she played," Mohney said.
"I feel her fire," White said. "I feel like she is a player with us; she wants to win as badly as we do."
Hanna said she encouraged her players to play as much volleyball as possible -- even if it were with a club other than the Post Falls club. She continued running open gyms. Last summer, she also hosted a little kids' camp, and former Post Falls star Janelle Ruen put on a hitting camp. The last couple summers, the Trojans have played in a summer league; this year, Hanna took the older players to a team camp at Lewis-Clark State.
The result -- the Trojans went from 5-18 during Hanna's first season to 11-18 last year. This year, Post Falls will produce its first winning season since 2001.
"What I saw when I moved back here in 2002, I saw a need for skills and character," Hanna said. "The position came open, and it was something that I hoped would happen. Certainly being from here, I have a lot of pride."
As does Cossette, an assistant not only on the 1991 team, but also on the 1984 Trojan squad coached by Sherie Patano that placed third at the state A-2 tournament.
The Trojans, who went undefeated in the 5A IEL, were understandably down after Lewiston beat them last week on their own court for the regional title. Hanna reminded them the goal of getting to state was still attainable, and they had one more chance last Saturday vs. Lake City.
The day before that match, Cossette wore some old coaching shorts to practice -- the same striped short shorts he wore prior to Post Falls going to state in 1991.
The next day, Post Falls went out and swept Lake City in three games to qualify for state.
"We're a sisterhood -- and Cossette," White said.
