Seniors leave their mark on and off the court

Bothell High’s senior foursome of Anna Buck, Rachael Davis, Sarah Norris and Brittney Packard: hard hitters or off-court impact players?

These Cougar volleyballers are living the best of both worlds. Aside from helping lead their team to a 4A Kingco tournament championship and state appearance last year, Buck worked at a day camp for special-needs kids over the summer; Davis contributes to Bothell’s DECA marketing program’s success; Norris is part of the school’s community-service-minded Key Club; and Packard is volunteering at an animal shelter for her senior project.

All this outside work certainly gives them an edge come volleyball time. These Cougs say they care about their teammates, coach Marlie Davis and fans — and that’s the base for a solid volleyball program that has won 11 league championships and made 10 state appearances since 1994.

“There’s never any issues. We all get along — we go to football games together (and more),” said Packard, a defensive specialist, who helped make signs for the incoming sophomore players before their first match against Mount Si last week. “We want to make sure the sophomores feel more comfortable around each other. We don’t go around (avoid) the sophomores because they’re in a different class than you.”

“All the seniors have been very welcoming. And in practice, you’ll see a junior with a sophomore or a junior with a senior,” said Norris, an outside hitter.

Added Buck, a second-team all-4A Kingco setter last year: “Anyone can come up to you with a question — it’s all open.”

One of those sophomore signs was “Hard Work and Hard Practice = Excellence,” said Rachael Davis, a middle player, who added that the varsity team all pitched in to defeat Mount Si in its season-opening three-game victory last week.

It was a smashing start for the Cougars, who finished 15-4 overall and 10-1 in league last year. In their four-game win over Issaquah for the league title, Buck registered 37 assists and senior libero Zoe Iida (first-team all-4A Kingco defensive specialist) notched 37 digs and four aces to give the Cougs a No. 1 league seeding to state.

Bothell is loaded with seniors this year with Andrea Beilner, Jacque Korn and Brooke Ward completing the list.

“Everyone’s a year older and we kind of set the pace. We set an example,” said Buck, who also sets plenty of balls to her hungry hitters. “When you’re serving and you shank it, you don’t give up — next time, you make a perfect pass.”

Added Norris on the first match: “We had so much energy — even when we dropped down for a while, we had to get it back up.”

Rachael Davis noted that when the team hits tough times, it’s the seniors’ responsibility to keep the Cougars focused on the winning prize.

Like any life situation, there are bound to be some obstacles along the way — for instance, running extra lines if someone arrives late for practice.

“We support everyone on the team … (running lines) makes us better conditioned. We want more,” said Davis with a laugh.

Packard, Buck and Norris echoed Davis’ comments by adding that the Cougars turn a would-be negative situation into a positive by offering to run others’ lines for them or just challenging themselves by plowing through the workout to get it done — and move on.

Coach Davis plays a major role in the players’ commitment and pride in the volleyball program, the girls say.

“She says to shoot for the moon by getting to state, and if you lose, you’ll still land upon the stars,” Packard said.

Norris said that she and her teammates live life to the fullest on and off the court with gutsy play, extracurricular activities and team car-wash and coffee-sale fund-raisers.

“If you don’t take chances, you can never see what happens,” she said. “Always go for everything.”