First-year volleyball squad focusing on the little victories

WASILLA — Leading a first-year varsity program loaded with athletes new to the game of volleyball, Redington head coach Andrea Thompson and her assistants are taking a different approach with the Huskies.

The focal point is not on wins and losses. In some cases, it might not even be on game scores.

“We’ve changed our goals, made them different, made them more personalized. We have something to work toward,” Thompson said earlier this week.

As Redington works to build its volleyball program, the Huskies coaches are busy building volleyball players.

“It’s improved their skills, more than anything else,” Thompson said of the approach.

By focusing on the individual skills, and making individual goals, Thompson said her players stay positive, and the confidence of her players continues to grow.

The Huskies have team goals as well, Thompson said. And just like the individual goals, they are not focused on mere wins and losses.

“We look at the scores, to better the score this year,” Thompson said. “If we scored three points (in a game) against a team last year, and seven this year, we’ve done something.”

With this philosophy, Thompson said, since the Huskies began with a junior varsity team last season, she’s seen great improvement.

“So far we’re doing remarkably better than last year,” Thompson said. “This year we are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were last year.”

Thompson said the Huskies currently have 16 players in the high school program. Junior libero Taylor Ryan, junior setter Rayme Harris and junior outside hitter Shale Lytle are among the leaders on the team, Thompson said.

As the Huskies build volleyball at Redington, Thompson said, the coaches have also focused on bringing the middle school and high school programs together. Thompson said middle school players work as team managers during the high school season. When the middle school season starts in January, the high school players are around to help.

Redington continues its season Tuesday with a home game against Grace Christian.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.