Centennial – A few years ago, the Eaglecrest volleyball team doubled as a sort of drama club.
To make matters worse, the Raptors weren’t very good at either.
But under the guidance of fifth-year coach Tanya Bond, who inherited an 0-19 team, the Raptors are 15-1 this season and ranked No. 1 in Class 5A following two victories over defending champion – and nationally ranked – Grandview.
Not bad for a bunch of former teenage drama queens.
“We’ve learned it’s most important to listen to each other,” standout hitter Kristen Schevikhoven said. “We were fighting all the time, but now we fight for each other.”
Blessed with their fair share of talent, the Raptors’ credit their meteoric rise to an attention to detail – namely ball control and defense – and a wealth of heart unique to the underdog.
The Raptors are 4-0 in the volleyball-rich Centennial League following Tuesday’s sweep of Boulder and are starting to visualize riding this momentum to the state tournament. Since Bond took over, the Raptors haven’t made it past districts.
“We’re talking about the big picture, but understanding the destination is a process,” Bond said.
Oddly enough, the town of Gunnison is the backdrop to that process.
Tanya Bond met her husband, Chad, and future Grandview coach Patty Childress when she was a player and part-time assistant coach at Western State. Childress, who was at Mesa State, picked the Bonds to coach the junior varsity and sophomore teams at Grandview when the school opened in 1998.
Tanya and Chad went to Eaglecrest in 2000 and focused on installing a winning attitude with the program’s lower ranks. Prior to the 2004 season, Tanya took the team to Gunnison for some much-needed team bonding that included hiking and an adventure ropes course.
Looking back, Bond calls that quality time a huge step in the team’s evolution, noting that in the past the players seemed “propelled to look at the drama.”
The Raptors were 16-6 last season – their first winning record under Bond – and 5-2 in the Centennial League after beating one league opponent in their three previous seasons combined.
But bombing in the 2004 district tournament gave opponents good reason to look at Eaglecrest with a degree of skepticism this season. As the Northern Colorado-bound Schevikhoven says, Eaglecrest’s modus operandi was to build a lead, shut down and blow it.
Eaglecrest began rewriting history last month by beating Grandview twice within a span of nine days.
“What impresses me the most is they are so steady and they don’t make very many errors,” Childress said of the Raptors. “It seems their mental game is stronger than it was in the past.”
Schevikhoven is the Raptors’ top hitter, although the 5-foot-9 senior is a standout setter for her Front Range club team. Senior Sasha Kissman handles the majority of setting duties for the Raptors, along with her freshman sister, Jordan.
Sasha Kissman said the team’s new attitude became more evident following those wins over Grandview. Kissman said in the past big victories might earn the team a day off, while this year they were in the gym the next day running lines.
The Raptors’ starting six also includes junior outside hitter Briana Steger and sophomore Courtney Karst. Junior middle blocker Courtnee Pedone and defensive specialist Sheila Oleachea rotate in each game and Bond is expecting to get 6-2 right-side hitter Natasha Anderson back this week after the senior overcame eligibility issues.
With the regular season winding down, the Raptors must navigate Fairview, Cherry Creek and Overland for a spotless league finish. Tactically, Bond is slowly implementing more quick and direct sets into the offense to give the Raptors an added dynamic for the stretch run.
But no one seems in a hurry to get to the state tournament. Kissman, for one, is enjoying the drama unfolding before her eyes.
“It’s really amazing,” Kissman said. “Four years ago we didn’t make it to districts, and now we’re No. 1 in the state.”
