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Kirsten Clark Sports Editor Seated in third place, the Dolphin volleyball team is looking forward to the second half of their season. With their amazing finish of last year, placing first in the northern region, volleyball fans had no doubt about the strong push this team would have this year. But with two losses to rivals Bellevue and Whatcom in the first half, these ladies are bearing down for their second go-around. "We changed things around a little for our last tournament (Walla Walla) which we won, and now we are looking forward to playing Bellevue and Whatcom in our last two home games," said Tara Glover, who is one of the five returnees from last years team.
"This team is better than last year," she said. "Before, the northern region was one of the weakest we went to tournaments and we were not worried. Now it is one of the strongest, we go to tournaments and now we are worried." When asked what she thought about beating Bellevue and Whatcom in the second half of the season she said smiling, "99 percent in my eyes." This is not surprising after hearing Coach West's meek goals for the second half of only "beating everyone and placing in the top four in the NWAACC tournament." These goals may seem a bit outrageous and a little pretentious, but after taking a look into Coach West's extensive volleyball background they seem to be routine. Up until 1982 Raquel was playing for the Peruvian National team as a hitter, when she was once nominated as one of the best in the world. In 1980 Raquel played for Peru, in the Moscow Olympics. After '82 Raquel left to play professionally in Europe but came back home in 1990 to play in the Pan-Am games, where her team finished third. After that, Raquel headed back to Italy to play, and in 1992 she made the All-American all star team as well as the All-Italy team. And if you can believe it, her coaching background is just as extensive. In 1990 Raquel took a short break from playing to coach the New York City team in the Empire State Games. In 1992 she coached the Junior National Setters team. When Raquel finally made her way to Seattle, she started out with a club team in North Seattle when she heard of an opening at SCC. Lucky for us she applied for the job and has been her for the past six years. So the goals don't seem so ambitious now do they, especially for someone with their name on a stadium, that happily came from one of Raquel's players. So what does Raquel like best about this team? "I like the diversity, everybody make everybody welcome, and they are trying to learn each others culture," she said. This year's SCC team is host to two international players: Yulissa Zamuido from Peru and Kae Miura from Japan. So far this year, the international students have made a real contribution to the team. In the Walla Walla tournament Zamuido was named MVP. She has also been nominated as the best hitter in the region as well as the conference and the best defensive player in the region. Congrats Yulissa! Now you would think that with practicing everyday, a few games a week and tournaments these girls would have had enough of each other. As far as I have seen, they all get along great. Talking to Teresa Causin, who has played for Raquel since she was 16 says they still hang out together outside of games and practice. One of the things the team gets together to do in the off-season is help coach the club team Raquel and her husband Mark started. Tara Glover, who also coaches for the team learns a lot about the game through coaching. "It is a totally different perspective than being out on the court, you get a chance to see some of the mistakes you make, and know what Raquel is talking about, it also helps out with strategy," she said. Another coaching opportunity offered to these women in the off-season, is also used for a fund-raiser for the team. They host a volleyball camp for girls age 10 to 18 and use the funds to pay for trips to tournaments. If this is not enough to talk you into going and seeing these ladies play, I don't know what is. Well, actually I do. They still have some great up-coming tournaments to play in, and the highlight will be the Shoreline tournament. This will be held here Nov 1 and 2 and will include the teams from Walla Walla, Big Bend, Skagit Valley, Clackamas, Chimeteka, and of course SCC. This is a great opportunity for these women to repeat the first-time win of the SCC tournament, and for you to go and cheer them on. © 2002 Shoreline Community College™ |
