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On-the-Job Training Pays Off for Coach By SCOTT SANDSBERRY YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC When Diane Axelson began her volleyball coaching career, she knew almost nothing about the sport in which her Meridian team would win a Class 2A championship in 2004. "The first game she coached," says her husband, Ken, "was the first one she'd ever seen." But Grandview, which hired Axelson as a physical education instructor following her graduation from Central Washington University, needed her to do a couple of other things as well: Coach tennis and coach volleyball. "I'd never seen a match, never taken a volleyball class (in college)," says Diane Axelson. "I felt OK with tennis -- I did take a tennis class." So she quickly bought a book called "Power Volleyball" and read as much of it as she could before her first match. Does she remember the book being particularly helpful? "I remember," she said, "it was green." But, after two years at Grandview, she became a teacher and coach at Friday Harbor, where she continued attending clinics and reading as many manuals on volleyball techniques and strategies as she could get her hands on. It worked. During her 11 years at Friday Harbor, her teams went to eight straight state tournaments and won the 1986 Class B title, she helped coach two Lynden High teams to state final appearances (including the 1998 title) and made Meridian a perennial power.
Now in her 30th year of coaching (14 at
Meridian), Axelson -- who has hinted that she may be nearing or at the end
of her career -- has been the head coach for well over 400 victories, and
heading into Saturday's 2A final, none of her dozen or so state-placing
teams ever lost its last match at the state tournament. After winning their second match, they were still alive for a trophy. So what did they do? Scout their next opponent? Go back to the hotel to catch up on their rest? "We all have a really good time together. We're just great friends," said Blazer star Jill Collymore. "We thought, 'Hey, let's all go see a movie!' So we did."
The Blazers went to watch "The
Incredibles," a new animated film by Disney and Pixar on Friday night. On
Saturday, they came back to beat Royal in five games and White Pass in
three. In the latter, Collymore was pretty incredible herself, racking up 10
aces with her sensational jump serve, plus 22 kills, three blocks and 29
digs. The Lyncs lost the first two games 25-13 and were being all but whitewashed in the second game, when coach Kim De Valois began getting feisty on the bench, getting up, fist clinched, exhorting her players and the Lyncs' supporters in the stands. "I got pretty riled up," she said. "I think the girls saw I had a little fight in me. In the first game, we looked like nothing, but at the end of the second game, we starting showing some fight." The Lyncs lost that game 25-14, then came back to win the next three 27-25, 25-19, 15-8 as Janelle Aupperlee and Heidi Ravenhorst combined for 33 kills and Aupperlee had a dozen blocks.
"We've been through a lot this year,
losing some kids for a while and having to fight through a lot," De Valois
said, referring to the temporary suspension from the team of several players
for athletic-code violations. "But they really dug deep here. To come back
from down two and win in five, that shows something." Now, looking very much like a future collegiate star in volleyball -- a game she only started playing in the eighth grade -- the fall sport is "definitely gaining" on her first athletic love, she says. "Especially right now.
"Volleyball's an awesome sport. I love
it." But not "We're No. 1." They were chanting, "Mrs. Doering! Mrs. Doering! Mrs. Doering!" A tribute to a great coach, a genuinely nice human being and, right now, the most popular person in Colfax. |
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