Le Jardin Volleyball Is On The Rise
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usIf there is truly strength in numbers, the future looks very bright indeed for the Le Jardin volleyball program.
For the present, however, Bulldogs assistant coach Leslie Johnson sees her team as “a work in progress.”
Le Jardin will begin its second season of Varsity competition in the Division II Interscholastic League of Honolulu on Thursday (6 p.m.) at Iolani with only three returnees from 2005 - senior Elizabeth Villalino, senior Alysha McMahon and junior Lisa Lau.
The good news is that interest at the Kailua school is at an all-time high.
“We have a lot of interest, but not a lot of experience,” said Johnson, who was the head coach last year and now assists Keith Ka’ahanui. “We had a lot of kids show up at tryouts, which is nice to see.Volleyball is huge in Hawaii to begin with, and that helps.
“The beauty of a small school like ours is that someone can take up the sport in the seventh or eighth grade and still make the team and have a chance to continue (on to Varsity competition). Our intermediate teams look strong, and now they have something our Varsity kids didn’t have - a Varsity team to look up to, which gives them an opportunity to see where it is all going.”
The Varsity Bulldogs won just one encounter in 2005 (over Lutheran), but were competitive in their first year of ILH competition. Le Jardin’s gymnasium is slated to be completed sometime in 2008, which will be a huge boost to the program. For the present, the Bulldogs practice at King Intermediate.
As they approach Thursday’s season-opener, leadership is of paramount importance, according to Johnson, a former Punahou stand-out in her own playing days. McMahon will play libero while Villalino will divide her time between outside and middle hitter. Villalino was an honorable mention selection in the ILH Division II in 2005. Lau has shifted from the right side to the position of setter, meanwhile, having been an outside hitter in the program previously.
“They’ll all have a big role on this team. They have to keep their cool and keep everyone focused. They haven’t had to be leaders before, so this is new to them, but I think we’ll be OK. We’ll just have to be creative. We have five freshmen on the Varsity, so they’ll have to learn as much and as fast as they can from the senior returnees.
“(Elizabeth) is our strongest player,” Johnson continued.“She’s an excellent athlete with a high vertical leap, a nice arm swing, and she’s a solid hitter. Alysha brings a lot of experience - she’s traveled to the Mainland a lot to play in Club tournaments. She’s an excellent defensive player, and Lisa has been doing really well since stepping in to take over as a setter.”
For the long haul, Johnson sees an increase in Club volleyball competition among the Bulldogs’ players as instrumental in Le Jardin’s development as a volleyball program.
“We have only three players from the Varsity who play Club and six overall (including the Junior Varsity and Intermediate teams) right now. Realistically, we’d like to have 75 to 85 percent of our kids involved. That would be huge for our program. It would help to make us more competitive in the ILH. Having our Junior Varsity and Varsity teams packed with freshmen and sophomores is promising.”
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