Su Valley Rams make school history

TALKEETNA — During his 26 years with the Susitna Valley volleyball program, head coach Chad Valentine’s travels with his players have taken the Rams just about everywhere.

The Rams have shifted conferences at least a half-dozen times, bounced between ASAA’s 2A and 3A classes and have played teams anywhere from Delta to Dillingham.

The program’s journey has taken the players up peaks and through valleys. But nothing can top the Rams’ latest trek — their trip to the top of the state volleyball ladder.

Su Valley swept Unalaska 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-21) during the final round of the ASAA/First National Bank of Alaska 2A State Volleyball Championships at Dimond High School in Anchorage Dec. 14. It’s the first state championship in the history of the Rams volleyball program. But it’s also a signature moment for the school. According to ASAA records at asaa.org, Susitna Valley had won only two prior state championships, back-to-back small-schools cross-country running titles in 2002 and 2003.

“It’s huge for us,” Su Valley activities director James Sickler said recently. “Obviously, it doesn’t happen very often. Our volleyball program is a very strong program. But it’s also a special group of athletes that made it happen.”

That special group includes seven seniors, many who have been coached by Valentine since middle school.

“This is a full team of seniors who have been playing together for a lot of years. We set this as one of our goals at last year’s state championships. We wanted to be in the championship game,” Valentine said.

The Rams achieved their goal and scored the state title. They also cleared a hurdle that’s tripped up Su Valley for years. In three prior trips to the state tourney, Su Valley was forced to settle for a fourth-place finish. Valentine said there’s plenty of Su Valley alumni more than ready to see the Rams finally move forward in the bracket.

“The last three times, we’d lose the first match and we’re always on the loser’s bracket,” Valentine said. “We’d always win every match after that. We had to get past that first match. This year, it happened without any problem.”

Su Valley opened its tourney with a quick 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-14) sweep of Kalskag. The Rams’ toughest match of the weekend came in the semifinals. Su Valley edged Klawock 3-2 (25-16, 25-13, 22-25, 14-25, 15-13).

“We flew through the first two and lost our momentum. That happens in volleyball,” Valentine said. “We’ve always done pretty well in sets that go to 15 (points). The girls have been able to come out and push to 15 points pretty quick without losing momentum.”

Victories over Kalskag, Klawock and Unalaska cemented school history for the Rams. The wins also confirmed what the school’s activities director believes.

“The girls volleyball program is the best sports program we have here,” Sickler said.

Susitna Valley, a school with 108 students according to ASAA, faces the typical battle of every small Alaska school. Finding athletes to fill small-schools sports programs is typically a struggle. But Valentine has been working at it for 26 years.

“We start them young, and we focus on having fun,” Valentine said. “No. 1, you have to have fun playing the game. But that being said, we also teach them exactly what they need to know throughout their playing career. This is not gym ball throughout any stretch of the imagination.”

Valentine’s work with his athletes starts long before the players reach high school. Currently the middle school program includes 21 players. Administrators told Valentine there are only about two or three other girls who attend the middle school and don’t play volleyball.

Getting the athletes to enjoy and succeed at the sport early has been key. The success of the program does not hurt either.

“It’s exciting to know that the program is healthy. A lot of small schools have struggled to keep their teams together,” Valentine said. “We’re going in the opposite direction.”

The toughest part about Su Valley having a deep volleyball program at the small-school level is finding competition for its younger players. The Rams have their 12 varsity regulars, but often scramble to find C-team or junior varsity matches. Valentine said the Rams often hold intrasquad scrimmages to give the younger athletes match experience.

As Su Valley bounced back between ASAA’s 2A and 3A classes, the coaches and school made a key decision that helped preserve the overall health of the program. Before the Rams landed in their current home of the Borealis Conference three years ago, Su Valley was still officially recognized as a 3A school. Rather than fighting the uphill battle and playing a conference schedule against the likes of Nikiski and Seward, the Rams opted to play in the Borealis as an independent. Su Valley would get regular matches against 2A Borealis teams. But as an independent, Su Valley was not eligible for conference or state events.

“We elected not to attend the 3A conference tournament, and it turned out better for our girls,” Valentine said.

By regularly playing teams from schools similar to Su Valley, the Rams were able to continue to improve and keep students interested in participating.

“We were having good seasons. We weren’t getting beat up all the time,” Valentine said. “The program progressed even though we didn’t have a postseason.”

Su Valley’s recent success is a fruit of that labor, and a product of the work of Valentine’s seniors, who all have been with him for a number of years.

Senior outside hitters Ayla Loper, Libby Reinert; senior middle hitters Emily Hartley, Mariah Reynolds and Reckia Heuton; senior setter Dana Hogan and senior libero Kelsey Olson all played a tremendous role in the team’s success, Valentine said. Valentine said it’s not just the play on the court, but their actions on and off the floor that make the team great.

The Rams earned a pair of sportsmanship awards in tournaments during the season, something Valentine said he ranks right up with the team’s 35-1 overall record.

“This is just an amazing group of girls,” he said. “The just really good girls. Good leaders. Good students. They’ve just got their heads on straight.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com or 352-2273.