Volleyball jumps right into new season

“It’s a pretty even breakdown with good core leadership coming from the seniors”

[ by Than Acuff ]

Back in August, new Crested Butte Titans head volleyball coach Cierra Abbott was one week into pre-season workouts preparing for the upcoming fall season when the word came from the state high school sports governing board that volleyball would be moved to March.

But that didn’t mean volleyball was on hold as Abbott brings a passion for the sport that she looks to share with the Titan players.

Abbott started in seventh grade and her volleyball career included playing club volleyball in Texas and garnering the attention of Western Colorado University.

“I really started to fall in love with the sport and decided I wanted to play in college and got recruited to play at Western,” says Abbott.

But years of competitive volleyball eventually took its toll on Abbott and she stopped playing after two years turning her attention to coaching and working with the Western club team.

“My body just wasn’t going to have it anymore and I heard about a coaching job in Crested Butte,” says Abbott.

Abbott spent last year as the freshmen team coach and then got called up to be the head coach this year.
“My name got thrown in the hat and I really bought into the program and wanted to create a lasting culture with the sport in Crested Butte,” says Abbott.

Abbott has Katrina Stanek joining her as assistant coach and girls basketball head coach Amanda Reynolds jumping in to help as well.

When the season was moved to March, Abbott still held open gym sessions for her players in the fall, mindful of providing them an opportunity to remain active without over taxing them as students and athletes.

“I wanted to give them the opportunity to just be able to do something, work on fundamentals and get them excited for the season,” says Abbott. “But still find a balance and not overdo it.”

They finally hit the court on March 8 to start training for the season and Abbott has 19 players out led by a group of six seniors with a handful of juniors and a couple of sophomores on the varsity roster.

“It’s a pretty even breakdown with good core leadership coming from the seniors,” says Abbott.

When things started out, Abbott had a good plan in place with their first game not until the end of the second week of the season. But, as has been the case with all high school sports this year, things changed and Abbott’s game schedule just got busier and earlier, as they have two games this week as well as a tournament in Gunnison.

“That kind of put a wrench in things, it’s a learning experience for all of us,” says Abbott. “The players and their families have been extremely responsive and we definitely have made it work.”

With that core senior class and the coaches developing the volleyball culture, Abbott feels the team is prepared for the challenges ahead.

“The first game will be a learning experience but our varsity is looking really strong and I’m looking forward to a successful season,” says Abbott.