The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Home matches Saturday, August 24 in mighty Mt. Olympus
By Than Acuff
Two years ago, when Marla and Sheri Covey returned to coaching the Titans volleyball team after a break, the team finished the season 6-17. Knowing full well that work in the off season is key to a player’s and the team’s progression, they made a point of improving the commitment from their players to off-season work.
The renewed commitment paid off as the Titans finished last year 10-13 and while Marla has stepped down from coaching, Sheri remains at the helm with Heidi O’Neil stepping in to help this fall.
“She’s a great influence on the program, just what we needed,” says Sheri.
In addition, that same foundation for off-season work continued this past year and Sheri could already see a difference when the team opened preseason workouts on Monday, August 12.
“They worked really hard in the off-season,” says Sheri. “The effort they made was huge.”
Sheri and O’Neil have 17 players to work with this year including seniors Mattie Halvorson, Olivia Reamer and Mandala Covey-Bleiberg. And with just one senior graduating from the team last year, they have several younger players with a lot of varsity time already under their belts. With experience and work in the off season, Sheri already sees a difference from last year with the players and team further along than this time last year.
“The program is definitely improving, and the kids have made that happen,” says Sheri.
Seeing that the players seem to be further along than past years, Sheri is looking to take their game up a notch and create a more aggressive identity.
“We want to step up and be more competitive,” says Sheri. “We’re hoping to be a blocking team and our offense is faster and more diverse. I already put in a new defense and it’s amazing that I can do that.”
Yet even the most talented team can struggle despite their abilities, so Sheri has also committed the team to a bigger picture of team sports.
“We’re really oriented toward changing the culture and staying positive and they’re embracing it 100-percent,” says Sheri. “We’re excited about our season. We’re working on our team dynamic, not so worried about results, but one thing leads to another.”
The Titans open the season with four matches at home on Saturday, August 24 in mighty Mt. Olympus. The games start at 10:30 a.m. with the next three matches slated for noon, 3 and then 4:30 p.m. Two of their matches will be against notoriously strong programs Cotopaxi and Caprock.
“Those are two really tough teams but having a faster game coming at us will serve us,” says Sheri.
