We trust you all had a great summer.
With the beginning of the high school season
this week, and the beginning of the boy’s club season this
weekend, Zia continues to help drive volleyball in the west valley.
While some clubs take the summers off, we continue to offer our
athletes different options and venues to play this sport we all
love.
Our Zia Juniors program was again a big
hit with our younger stars, our ZVL sand league saw the most
teams we’ve ever
had, and our Coyote camp, featuring several of the Arizona State
Sun Devil Volleyball team, was again a sell out.
With many changes ahead of us, we are glad you are with us and
look forward to another strong year both on and off the court.
With some wonderful new coaching additions, some new practice
gym sites, and some changes to the Arizona Region schedule that
will affect us all, we are very much looking forward to our 9th
season. We will continue to offer you the best coaching staff in
Arizona and make sure your quality athletes are involved in a quality
program.
We’ll see you on the court.
Warmest Regards,
Marideth
Zia Boys 2006
Try-out & Season
Information
Tryouts are Friday, September
1st
First
Baptist Church (81st Ave and Cactus)
5:30 PM * Sign-in and
Warm-ups
6:00-7:30 PM *
Try-outs & Team placement
7:30-8:00 PM * Registration,
Ordering Uniforms and Apparel
**You will
need to provide us a photo copy of your Birth Certificate if
you didn’t play club last year.
USA Volleyball requires proof of age when we send in your registration.
** A Parent or Guardian is needed to sign and
fill out paperwork
Cost: The
same as last year!
$365 due at Registration
All
age groups (16’s and under & 18’s)
Pays for: USAV Registrations,
Team Registration,
Nike
Uniform shirt & shorts &Region
Tournaments
2 Payments of $157.50
1st payment due: Tuesday,
October 10th
2nd payment due: Friday,
November 10th
Total for the season $680
** If your team decides to go to the California
Tournament we will adjust the payments.
The Program is under the direction of
Jenny Croxford.
Practices:
We will be practicing Mondays and Wednesdays
at Centennial High School
You deserve to know who will be coaching your
Son before you commit to a team. You deserve to NOT have to pay
for tryouts and maybe lose your tryout fee and you deserve to know
ALL your costs up front so you aren't surprised at the end of the
season. Don't let any Club not give you all the answers you need
to make the best choice for your athlete!
For more information, contact Jenny at vb1girl@yahoo.com
Zia’s Crew Still
in the News
Catch
up on a couple of Zia’s best. Check out this link to read
the story on Zia’s 18-Garra team assistant coach Margie
Giordano as she begins her sophomore season at Arizona State University.
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Margie Giordano |
Sarah Reeves |
And click here to read about our own Sarah
Reeves who will be
attending ASU next fall.
Full Court Press!
Marc Buckhout, the sports writer for the Peoria Toda
weekly newspaper handicaps the west side volleyball scene every
year. Here are his takes on the schools, and the Zia athletes
(highlighted) he says to keep an eye on!
Cactus In their
first season under Coach Lindsay Patterson, the Cactus Cobras
came up one victory short of winning the Wells Fargo Region.
In a three-team battle with Greenway and Prescott, the
Cobras fell to the Badgers in Prescott. While finishing second in the region,
the Cobras put together a 21-14 season before being bounced in the first round
of the 4A Div-I state tournament.
Patterson said she feels as though she’s starting
ahead this season as compared to a year ago.
“There’s just more continuity now,” Patterson
said. “Last year, I didn’t know the talent level of the players.
They didn’t know what to expect of me. It took some time before we figured
it out. Things are moving along better this season because we have those things
already settled. They know what is expected of them.” Along
with more continuity, the coach and her players are stressing more accountability.
“Our motto is no excuses,” the second-year
coach said.
“We had too many games that got away from us. You can’t let a couple
bad plays turn into a bad game. That’s where you have to mentally be disciplined
and stop a slide.” Patterson said she has confidence
in the core of seven returnees that include a young core of juniors Kelli
Heenan and Kimberly Koopman, middles Megan Johnson and
Ashley Phelps, along with sophomore libero Samantha Eastburn.
For senior leadership the team turns to Tracy Logelin
and four-year setter Shannon Cologna.
Patterson said she’s anticipating the region will
be decided by the Greenway, Prescott and Cactus trio once again.
“I think it’s a crap shoot, we’re all
pretty solid teams,” the coach said. “I don’t think we’ll
struggle on offense and I’m pretty confident that our defense is going
to be strength. We might not have the stars but I think we’re pretty balanced.
Everybody should contribute.”
Ironwood While
all three of Ironwood’s rivals saw their top guns graduate,
Ironwood returns co-region player of the year Sarah Reaves,
a dominant offensive player on the outside. The 17-year-old senior
has already verbally accepted a scholarship offer to Arizona State
University.
“I think everybody knows who Sarah is, but I’m
not sure they know anybody else from our program,” fifth-year coach Kathy
Wilson said. “That’s the part that’s exciting to me, because
I really feel we have a lot of depth on this team and a lot of players that are
going to contribute with big season.” While many
had tabbed Ironwood to battle Desert Mountain for the title last year, the semifinal
loss to Deer Valley hasn’t had a negative effect on the team, Wilson said.
“It was a successful season overall, but nobody
was happy with the way it ended,” she said. “The girls are very hungry
to get another chance in the state tournament and are working hard to make it
happen.” With the 5-foot-10-inch Reaves as the
centerpiece, the fifth-year coach said her team should have another dynamic offense
this season.
After getting their first taste of varsity competition
last year, Wilson said she’s seen huge strides in the games of juniors Chelaine
Barrett, a middle, and Brittany Sanford a 5-foot-10 outside hitter.
“The two of them should be big contributors,” she
said. “They just look different this season. It’s an adjustment your
first year on varsity. This year they’re making better decisions on the
court and are hitting with more confidence. They both have really stepped it
up.” Along with some talented hitters, including Madison
Orton, the coach said her team should be strong defensively with senior Kim
Moses at the libero.
The biggest loss from last year’s team was setter Aumee
Barrett. Wilson said she has seen enough from sophomore Kristi
Friesen to feel that the team is in good hands.
After reaching the quarterfinals in 2004 and the semifinals
last year, Wilson said her team has its sights set on getting to the finals this
season.
“I think having the big game experience from last
year is going to help us in the state tournament this time around,” she
said.
Centennial When
asked about expectations regarding the Coyotes first season at the 5A Div-II
ranks a year ago, Carly Bourland had expressed some uncertainty about making
the move up from the 4A ranks. She did however explain that the 2005 team would
set the standard for future Coyotes teams in regards to 5A Div-II expectations.
After producing a 27-11 record and advancing to the semifinals,
before losing to the eventual state champions, Desert Mountain, the 2006 squad
will have its hands full to live up to the success of its predecessors.
The main adjustment facing the Coyotes will be playing
without the dominant presence of Dana Edington, the 2006 graduate, who shared
all-region honors with Reaves.
“It’s obviously tough to lose someone like
her,” Bourland said. “Between Dana and Sammy Piazza we had a very
powerful duo in the middle. But that’s the challenge of coaching at the
high school level. Each year you have different players and you have to decide
what the identity of each team is going to be. With this group I really think
it’s going to be defense.” Up front, Bourland
will look to senior Elyce Lamphere to provide leadership and consistency at one
outside hitter spot while she likes the energy provided by Makenzie Willneff,
a sophomore who also plays on the outside. Senior middle/right side Anna Hagstrom
also will provide senior setter Sarah Pottle, a three-year starter, another target
at the net.
Bourland said her defensive specialists, senior libero Danielle
Serna and senior Jenny Makowski, should frustrate
opponents all season with their ability to keep balls in play.
“Danielle never wants to come off the court,” Bourland
said. “She reads the ball so well, is one of our most consistent passers
and is willing to throw her body all over the place. She’s got bruises
up and down her legs. Jenny was the star of our preseason camp. She’s playing
with a lot of confidence.”
Sunrise Mountain A
year after winning 24 games, the most in the program’s history,
Coach Deb Moore, said pushing that number to 30 is the next goal
for the program.
Like Centennial, which ended the Mustangs season in the
quarterfinals, Sunrise will have a different look this season after graduating
its top two players in Jenni Martineau and Nikki Wanninger,
both all-region performers at outside hitter.
“Well those are holes that we certainly have to
fill,” said the sixth-year coach.
“Both from a production standpoint, but also a
leadership one as well. Those two were here for three years and were clearly
our leaders. We’re still seeing who will emerge in that capacity.” While
she lost two important pieces, Moore has eight seniors and seven juniors on a
squad that has five players that started a season ago. Her task now is to find
who fits where best.
One player entrenched in a spot is senior Ciana
Martin, the team’s setter.
“She’s just rock solid, someone you know
you can count on,” Moore said.
No matter how they end up lining up, the coach said two
strengths should be serving and blocking.
Moore said senior middle Krystal Pratt (6-foot), who
was the team’s leader in blocks a season ago, should step up her offensive
production in 2006. Joining her in the middle will be senior Kallie Nauertz.
They’ll be flanked by outside hitters Alex Worthy, a
senior, junior Kara Holtorf and junior Sarah Jones.
The team’s defense should be stronger with the
return of specialist Stacie Wolff, a senior, who missed all
of last year after an appendectomy.
“It’s going to be a dogfight again in our
region, but we want to improve on what we did last season,” Moore said.
Peoria Like
Sunrise Mountain, the Panthers also saw their two top players graduate in Audie
Gonzalez and middle Melissa Harper.
That leaves sixth-year coach Robin McDowell to reshuffle
the deck with what she admits is a smallish bunch.
“What we lack in height, we make up for by being
feisty,” the coach said. “The strength of this year’s team
is that I have girls that can really scramble and will continuously work hard
to get touches defensively.” The challenge is finding
enough offense to keep opposing teams on their heels.
McDowell is looking for continued development from junior
Leah Orth.
“We need some serious offense out of her,” the
coach said. “She’s the only lefty on our team. She’s very quick
and has a lot of potential. We just need to work on her consistency as a hitter.” Sophomore
Hilary Toone returns in the middle and provides the Panthers with a quick player
at the net and a solid blocker. She’ll be joined by senior Rachel Dodd,
who missed all of last season following an injury. The same is true of fellow
senior Terra McKinney who will see action at outside hitter. With both players
standing at 6-foot, McDowell said she’s got some pieces to work with, including
senior setter Ashley Flores.
“A coach can train players, motivate them and do
so much from the sideline, but it’s vital to our team to have someone inspiring
them between the lines,” the coach said. “We have a ways to go, but
with hard work and leadership I feel that the other parts of the game have a
better chance of coming together in a timely manor.”
Don’t Leave the Beach Just Yet…..
While
the High School season has started, the weather says it’s
still a fine time for sand doubles. FitLife strength and
conditioning specialist Justin Walters offers up this exclusive
workout to be done in the sand for our athletes.
When dealing with athletic performance
and improvements, every little thing that an athlete does to
better themselves will tend to add up to an increase in their
abilities and output within their given sport. Volleyball is no different and the staff at
FitLife has put together a quick 10 minute routine that if done
correctly after a game or practice will help produce certain adaptations
and lead to an increased level of performance.
- Free Squats or Prisoner Squats 2
sets of 10
- The athlete starts with their hands behind their head, and
then sits in a motion that mimics trying to sit in a chair
that is really far behind them.
- While in the lower phase of the squat
the shoulders, knees, and the top of the foot should make
a straight line if looking at the athlete from the side.
- The athlete should then raise their body lifting from the
glutes first.
- Squat Jumps or Block Jumps 2
sets of 10
- Same lowering movement as the above mentioned exercise without
putting the hands behind the head.
- From the bottom of the squat jump up like blocking at the
net making sure to extend the hips till the body is straight.
- When landing make sure to land toe to heel and land in the
same squat position as just before the jumping phase.
- Speed Skaters 2
sets of 20
- Draw two lines in the sand about 4 feet apart.
- Start with the body outside of one of the lines.
- Jump laterally off of one foot across to the other line
landing on the other foot.
- Repeat the other direction and that counts as one
- Power Skips 2
sets of 4
- Power off of one leg while driving the arm and opposite
knee then repeat on the side.
- Maximize height and try to get in as many as possible within
the length of the court, turn around and go other direction
that counts as one.
- Box 1
set of 10
- Use the court as an outline of a box.
- Start by sprinting down one side of the court.
- From the corner switch to a lateral shuffle toward the other
corner of the court.
- From that corner back pedal the length of the court toward
the last corner.
- From that corner shuffle again back to the starting position;
that is one lap.
-Justin, FitLife Arrowhead
Center
for Strength and Conditioning
623-776-8838
arrowhead@azfitlife.com
This information is provided as advice and as with all activity
there is a risk for injury and should be used with precautions. FitLife
and its staff are in no way responsible if an individual is injured
do to any of the above mentioned activities.
If
there is anything you would like to hear about, see or learn about in next
months ZIAp date, please e-mail Eric at erichbke@msn.com. We'll
do our best.
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