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| Published November 14, 2003 :: Home 
Mike |
Talk Keeps Woodland's Dream
Alive In the recorded history of speech, the talk that Woodland coach Jeff Nesbitt had with his team when it trailed Colville, two games to none, in the Class 2A state volleyball quarterfinals Friday afternoon will probably not amount to even an ink smudge on a footnote. But for the Beavers -- on the verge of seeing their state title aspirations dashed in the early rounds for the second straight year -- Nesbitt’s “You Have A Dream” speech in the SunDome may eventually take on a life of its own. Nesbitt, who has seen an epic rally or two in his 17 years at Woodland -- more on that later -- was running out of ideas when he resorted to one of the oldest tricks in the coaches' psychological gear bag -- reminding his charges that their state title dream was still alive even when trailing badly. “I told them they needed to start playing for some pride,” Nesbitt related afterward. “I told them ‘You have a dream’ and it’s up to you.” Left to their own devices -- with some strategy help from Nesbitt -- the Beavers rallied to earn a place in the semifinals with a 22-25, 24-26, 25-12, 26-24, 21-19 win over the Indians. Jamie Richards and Breanne Cochran heard Nesbitt loud and clear. More to the point, they responded. “Bree stepped up in the huddle and she was very upbeat and positive,” Nesbitt said when asked about other verbal contributions. Colville did its part to help the Beavers out. The Indians had chances to close the match out at 15-14 and each subsequent time each team scored until Colville reached 18. They couldn’t do it. Give Woodland credit for having some grit. Richards came up with a big serve early in the fifth game and back-to-back huge kills to bring the Beavers into a tie at 12. Nesbitt said that even as things started going Woodland’s way in the third game -- the Beavers won that one 25-12 -- all was not well. “We played real smooth and consistent,” he said. “Was I comfortable? Heck no.” It was the second year in a row that Woodland was involved in some of the more dramatic doings in the 2A ranks. Last year, the Beavers and Colville were involved with Meridian in a bruising three-team tiebreaker. Woodland and Colville were eliminated in the tiebreaker -- Nesbitt admitted using the 2002 adventure as an incentive with this team -- and Meridian struggled to a fifth-place finish. Two years ago Woodland was the final victim of Lakeside -- actually taking the first game in the title match 15-10 -- as the Eagles completed their three-year run atop Class 2A. Now Woodland turns it attention to South Whidbey, the No. 3 seed from the brutal Northwest District. The Beavers are back in the semifinals after a one-year absence and had to play just two matches instead of the five the old pool-play format would have required. The reduction in workload is fine with Nesbitt. After three straight years of trying to work out of the toughest pool in the tournament into medal play, he was ready for a break. Of course, that was before Friday’s marathon. “I haven’t seen one like that in a long time,” he said after the Colville tussle. He’d probably just as soon not anytime soon.
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