Pearl City Confident With Young Team
By Jack Danilewicz
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For all the benefits of a good scouting report on the opposition, Pearl City girls volleyball coach Stephanie Shigemasa prefers to put the emphasis on her own team.
“Hopefully, if we take care of our own business, everything falls into place,” said Shigemasa, whose team opened fall camp recently in preparation for the upcoming Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Conference season.“We definitely take care of our own team first. For us, it’s a matter of staying steady and consistent and being able to play our game.”
With only one senior on her roster, Shigemasa’s 2007 team will be among the youngest in the West. Unlike in past years, however, the veteran coach is confident the Chargers won’t be the smallest.
“I’ll be sad if we’re still one of the smallest teams,” laughed Shigemasa, whose team finished 9-5 in 2006. “We’ve always been one of the shortest teams in the OIA, especially compared to some East teams. But this year we’ll have one of the biggest teams we’ve ever had height-wise. For the first time in many years, the majority of our players are 5-(feet)7 and above.
“I’m not sure that’s tall for other teams, but for me it is,” she added.
Shigemasa will look to a trio of talented returnees in outside hitter Tiana Inong, middle blocker Cheyenne Joy and setter Matala Keiki to carry the Chargers early on. All are juniors who played key roles in 2006.
“We look at these three as the leaders of the team. They keep us together and make sure that everyone is working hard. Tiana is good all-around. She can hit, pass, set, and her attitude is good. She works hard, and she’s real positive. Cheyenne is still new to the game - this will be her second year of volleyball - but she has a good work ethic. Matala is good with her location - she runs our offense.”
Pearl City’s public unveiling is set for Thursday when the Chargers meet Hawaii Baptist Academy in the Kauai High School Pre-Season Volleyball Challenge. That’s the first of three games they’ll play that day. The event, which runs Thursday through Saturday, should be a good tuneup for the regular season, as the Chargers are guaranteed to play no less than eight games.
As in past years, Shigemasa expects defense to be their forte by the time the regular season opens Aug. 28 versus Leilehua.
“No. 1, it’s been our defense,” she said of the team’s past successes, “and we’ve been fortunate to have some kids that could carry the load here. They had a go-get’em attitude. The mental part of the game is important in being able to compete at the varsity level. We’re working on all aspects of our game every day. We have a young team, experience-wise, but we have talented girls, so we’re excited.”
One of the by-products of having a young team is that as seniors they are more seasoned than perhaps they might have been playing on the JV as sophomores. An increase in players coming to the program with club experience of late also bodes well for Pearl City’s future.
“We’re fortunate to be getting a lot of kids who come with some experience,” she said. “We’re seeing more and more kids getting excited about volleyball (in the community), and that’s a good thing.”
Contact Jack Danilewicz at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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