Off the gridiron: Volleyball powerhouses keep making their mark
Published: September 19, 2012
-- One stat that stood out for me Tuesday at Yomitan was watching Kubasaki rack up 33 service winners in their second three-set victory at Okinawa Christian School International in eight days. And almost by the same identical set scores. At 4-0, the Dragons are off to their best start in seven seasons.
-- I remarked to setter Emily Lampert, sidelined with an injured left hand, that aside from not having a “signature, go-to hitter” as Kubasaki did in 2005 in Alex Fernandez, that the Dragons have virtually everything else. Lampert’s reply was something to the effect of how this Dragons team is better than the sum of its parts. She’s right. Definitely a Far East Division I tournament Final Eight team, perhaps Final Four.
-- No question, after the final match of American School In Japan middle blocker Liz Thornton’s star-studded career, sometime next November, somebody from another team is going to tell her: “You know what I like best about you? You’re graduating. I won’t have nightmares about you next year.”
-- The names Hardeman of Faith Academy and Nelson of Christian Academy Japan fame are arguably the most decorated families in Far East tournament history. But how many families can claim THREE sisters who helped spell team championships for ASIJ in volleyball AND earn Most Valuable Player awards?
-- Don't forget Nile C. Kinnick, though. The Red Devils are 80-1 dating back the last three-plus seasons, with those unprecedented three straight Kanto Plain and DODDS Japan titles.
-- Just as Kubasaki doesn’t have a Fernandez in the fold (the Dragons finished fourth in 2005), neither does Seoul American have tree choppers in the form of Destinee Harrison or Liz Gleaves any more. Face it, those were once-in-10-years players. Well, don’t look now, but the Falcons are off to a 3-0 start themselves.
-- The common denominator? They each have efficient setters, some with experience (ASIJ’s Baileigh Gibson, Kubasaki’s Jienniphyre Soderlund, Kinnick's Jerimae Capuyan), while the Falcons have asked, with success, Ashley Clement, a defender and outside hitter, to disguise herself as a setter. Any doubters out there about how important the setter position is?
-- On the cross-country courses, we’re seeing as wide-open a chase for Kanto Plain team honors as we’ve seen in a long time. A lot of it has to do with the improvement of Yokota and the repeated top 10 placements by Kinnick boys runners, plus the emergence of Zama American’s Jarrell Hibler, which I mentioned in this space last week.
-- Kinnick’s boys came within three points of powerhouse St. Mary’s International in Week 1. International School of the Sacred Heart upset Seisen International the same week by one point. American School In Japan is not as dominant as it’s been in the past.
-- Four or five schools are in the hunt on both sides for the first time in decades. The boys finish in Week 2 last week demonstrated that. Just 15 seconds separated Kinnick sophomore twins Aaron and Ethan Russ, the third- and ninth-place runners. “Any given Saturday,” one coach said.
-- Little doubt, I think, that Kinnick’s Robert Beard and Carydaliz Fontanez will likely run the table in Kanto and DODDS Japan, the same way defending Okinawa and Far East champion Erik Armes has done on island in the boys.
-- While Kubasaki has cornered the Okinawa market on individual honors, keep in mind, Kadena has run the table in the team points thus far. Doesn’t bother coach Tom McKinney that his tightly bunched packs of runners don’t get the same spotlight that Armes and teammates Allie Reichenberg and Jessica Freedman do; he likes flying under the radar.
--Same thing will likely happen on the tennis courts come November on Okinawa. The girls singles could be a free-for-all, as Yokota’s Emily Beemsterboer, Zama’s Natalie Burke and Kadena’s Erika Youngdahl could make it a battle royal to see if anybody can dethrone Guam High’s Chloe Gadsden. But as far as team points go? Division I is going to be all-out war between Kadena and Yokota, strong from top to bottom.
