In what will be a rebuilding year for the Inglemoor High volleyball team, head coach Steph McQueen is still optimistic that her squad has the potential to have a big year.
The third-year Inglemoor coach took last year off due to a work-related conflict, but returns to a young team with a lot of potential.
The Vikings graduated 11 seniors off last year’s squad, which held a 6-4 record in 4A Kingco play (9-8 overall) and earned a berth into the state tournament. Key losses included Tali Robertson, a first-team all-Kingco selection, and Lauren Griffin, who had 90 kills in 10 games last year for the Viks.
“Some might call it a rebuilding year, but fundamentally we’re pretty strong,” McQueen said. “We’re trying to develop our hitters right now. Our passing is pretty strong, so the areas we’re trying to focus on right now are defense and serving.”
The team’s lone returning senior, however, is one of the league’s best in Kendra Cotton, a libero (specialized defender) who has started on varsity since her sophomore season.
“She’s just a great all-around defender and serve receiver,” said McQueen of her most experienced player and team captain. “Last night at the Woodinville match, the coach came up and said, ‘We couldn’t get anything by your libero.’ I really expect her to lead the team in passing and run the speed of the game at the varsity level.”
Viking track star Tess Parent will be the primary setter for the lady Vikings this season and brings her great speed and athleticism to the court.
“(Tess) is fast, she gets to every ball,” McQueen said. “We’re getting her to place the ball exactly where it needs to be right now, and I expect her to lead us as far as setters.”
McQueen is also excited about a bunch of young sophomores and juniors that are ready to step it up this season as starters, getting a chance to prove themselves in big-game situations.
Two of those players are junior Jennifer Derke (outside hitter/setter) and sophomore Emily Anderson (outside hitter).
“She gives 150 percent every day and her hard work rubs off on her teammates,” McQueen said of Anderson.
The coach said her team’s only goal will be to do well at the 4A Kingco District Tournament and return to state, where the team went 0-2 last year. The new Kingco alignment will make that task more difficult.
“It’s going to be a challenge because those (Skyline, Issaquah and Newport) are great programs,” she said. “We’ve done it in the past and I think we can do it again if we really get focused and take care of getting the ball in the court. With Kendra leading our defense, it’ll be hard for our opponents to put the ball down.”
Though she cited her team’s main weakness as a lack of consistent hitting, as the Vikings only average about 5-foot-7 up front, McQueen is not worried about her players’ ability to move the ball around the court.
“Fitness — they’re in pretty good shape,” said McQueen when asked what her team’s primary strength is. ”I think they’re doing good things with ball handling, passing is probably our biggest strength.
“We’re lacking in height, but we got it in heart.”
Q & A with Cotton
• How do you think the team looks this year?
It’s a young team, so we have a lot of potential. We have some work to do, but I think we’ll be pretty good this year.
• Being a senior that has started for the last three years, what has it been like for you to take on that role of team leader?
It’s been pretty good, they’re really respectful and supportive of me, and I give it back to them.
• What do you like the most about the sport of volleyball?
The fact that it’s such a team sport, everybody has to be running together all the time. You can’t have one person on and one person off, everyone has to be together.
