HHS Sports Preview: Varsity Volleyball

The official start of fall might still be five days away but Herndon High’s fall sports season is already three weeks in. Hornet volleyball has boomed in popularity over the past decade and this year’s team is full of young prospects along with a few familiar faces.

The Herndon varsity girls’ volleyball team (1-4) also has a new coach in Rebecca Waters. She is not the only new face as most of the 2010 squad graduated last June, leaving plenty of room for underclassmen to fill. Although they have started out slow, the Hornets played well enough in a recent tournament (2-3) to win the second bracket. Fortunately, Herndon has not faced a district opponent yet and showed improvement Wednesday night winning its first game in a match-up on its home court against Langley in a tough loss, 1-3. 

That improvement continued Thursday night when the girls swept Falls Church at home, 3-0 (25-15, 25-8, 25-9). "I think we found a spark somewhere in that match," said Waters regarding the Hornets' victory over Falls Church. "I hope to see some more intense play on our side of the net for the rest of the season."

“I don’t think anybody has steam-rolled us. We’ve definitely felt competitive in all of our games and in the tournament. I think a lot of times the game becomes a very mental game,” said Waters regarding the first month of play. “Especially with rally scoring, it’s easy to get down by a lot very quickly. We need to understand it’s also easy to ‘get up’ a lot very quickly as well.”

The coach understands the foundation of her team is its youth in 2011 and is looking forward to building her squad into an eventual Concorde District winner in the upcoming years. And though that goal might not happen this season, Waters feels confident her roster has the talent to stay competitive and win matches this season.

“There is definitely a lot of potential talent here. It is a young team and relatively inexperienced,” Waters said. “We have five seniors but three were on JV last year. It’s a new fresh team and I’m excited to be able to work with them.”

Waters says she has several players who have the ability to play more than one position on the court. This “luxury” has given her options at different line-ups but the Hornets had not yet decided on the official 2011 starters as of last week. But the coach believes the girls have bonded tightly since the off-season.

“There’s definitely good chemistry, as far as I can tell, off the court,” she said. “Even Kylie Chichester (freshman) has jumped right in as part of the group.”

Captain Courtney Guengerich is one of the two returning senior starters from 2010. Waters said the 5-foot-11-inch setter has stepped up to lead the Hornets both on and off the hardwood this year.

“She is a leader and helps the team figure out where to go and helps them with the offense,” she said. “She’s got the hands and the experience to anchor the team and that’s key.”

Sophomores Catherine Nickle and Kayleen Harrington look strong and aggressive early on. Their coach has been impressed with the duo’s performance and said they are stars in the making. This is senior Jen Gettler’s first season playing varsity. Waters said she has shown great talent and been a welcome surprise given most seniors have usually played at the varsity level for at least one season by their final year of high school.

“She’s a great hitter, pretty consistent and has a strong kill percentage and her passing is also pretty good,” Waters said of Gettler’s play. “She’s also getting aces on her serves and all-around has definitely impressed me.”

The coach likes what she has seen from her team offensively but said the team needs significant work on defense. Once the girls realize the importance of a defensive mindset and show that change in game situations, the coach said Herndon should become a dangerous team to compete against.

“I’ve noticed the girls seem to be very offensive minded. Without the defense you’re not going to be able to run an offense. I’m trying to change that focus to more about defense and passing,” Waters said. “Our offense is great and we have a big, strong group of strong hitters. But I’m trying to instill the idea that a great dig is more memorable and more significant than a kill you had a few moments ago.”

Waters said every scoring opportunity does not need to be ideal. A team can capitalize off of a well-hit kill from its opponent if it learns to play “proactively and not just reactively.”

“I need to work with them getting out of the funk, understanding mistakes are inevitable and as long as you can recover, shake it off and let it go,” she said. “We’ve found ourselves going through phases where wed get on a role and look great. All of the sudden the other team had a strong server and we got in our heads.” 

Rebuilding can take some time but Waters does not think that means you have to lose while in that process. The Hornets are being taught the importance of fundamentals and the mental game. That can only lead to a positive outcome. When that outcome occurs depends on the learning curve. One thing is definite. Waters is committed to bringing a district title to Herndon.

“I noticed one of the only banners that didn’t have a district championship on it is volleyball,” she said. “So even though I’ve got shoes to fill as far as tradition and the program are concerned, there is still room for me to take it somewhere and build it into something better.”

Herndon plays next at Thomas Jefferson at 7:15 p.m. on Sept. 19.