No panic button necessary for Golden Hawks
| Monday, Nov 16 2009 09:49 PM
Last Updated Monday, Nov 16 2009 11:04 PM
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Michael Fagans / The Californian Centennial's Alyssa Gammel, left, and teammate Regan Richert go up to contest Liberty's Crissy Cunningham's attack during their quarterfinal game at Centennial on Thursday night in Bakersfield.
Tonight, without question, a Centennial volleyball player will find herself in a tight situation in the Golden Hawks' 7 p.m. Division I Central Section semifinal at Clovis West.
It will be a crucial point in a close game in a match against the defending champions that decides who goes to the section final in front of a hostile crowd.
And yet, Centennial coach Brooke Roberts thinks her players won't panic.
Why? Because she's been putting pressure on them in practice all year, a first in her 31 years as a head coach. It's an idea she got from Cal State Bakersfield coach John Price and some of his friends, including Arizona coach Dave Rubio and Wichita State coach Dave Lamb, who held a coaching clinic in Bakersfield this past summer.
"We've been focusing on committing fewer errors," said Roberts, who has won 13 section titles but still looks for new ideas from other high school and college coaches. "... We've designed some scoring systems in practice to reduce errors we commit and how to be aware of them and how to avoid making them.
"It's how to put our kids in real stressful situations, so that they've been there and done that. And I think it's starting to pay off."
If results mean anything, she's right. Centennial is 29-3 this season, including 24-0 against Central Section competition. But -- and this is the important part now -- the No. 3-seeded Golden Hawks are 0-0 against No. 2 Clovis West and No. 1 Clovis-Buchanan, which could meet the winner in Thursday's championship.
If Centennial is to pull two upsets in the Fresno area and win the title, it will do so behind the powerful front line of juniors Alyssa Gammel and Regan Richert, senior Lacey Congdon and sophomore Lauren Campbell, along with junior setter Carly Maxwell.
"They make a very good team," Roberts said. "But everybody else is a very, very good team, too. I would love for them to actually accomplish this goal of being a Division I Valley champion."
Also Thursday will be the championship in Division II, where Frontier and Garces have been the top teams all year. They've played twice and each won once.
Who claims the title will come down to the championship match Thursday. But first, they've got to get by West Yosemite League opponents tonight at home. No. 1 seed Frontier plays No. 4 Lemoore while No. 2 Garces gets a visit from No. 3 Visalia-El Diamante. Both games are at 7 p.m.
Garces coach Kim Harper said her team's tough schedule will help the Rams. Garces is 25-9, but five of the losses came to Division I powerhouses Bakersfield and Liberty, and three others were Southern Section teams.
"We've shown ourselves that if we keep battling, we can pull it out," Harper said. "I'm excited. El Diamante is a dangerous team, but we're playing well right now."
And a win could mean that anticipated rubber match with Frontier.
"Coach Harper and I have talked about this for about a year," Titans coach Steve Bentley said. "Now we've put ourselves in position; we've just got to take care of business."
In Division III's semifinals, No. 4 seed Golden Valley visits No. 1 Tehachapi, and No. 6 Ridgeview looks for a second straight upset, this time at No. 2 Exeter. No. 5 Bakersfield Christian visits No. 1 Visalia-Central Valley Christian in Division IV.
