 | | | Acalanes team at practice last week Photo Doug Kohen
| | | | | | Last year's girls' volleyball season proved to be one of the most exciting in recent memory, and expectations are high for the DFAL this season as well. Last season featured four teams from DFAL qualifying for North Coast Section tournament. Campolindo won the NCS and eventually took the state title.
As the start of the regular season approaches all three Lamorinda teams are working to adjust to roster changes in the preseason. Miramonte lost four seniors last year -two were starters. Acalanes graduated only three seniors but are featuring five newcomers to the varsity squad.
Acalanes' head coach Steve Siegmann is not worried, however, "We've added a good amount of height to our team and along with the improvement of players from last year I would say we have our most athletic team since I have been at the school."
The team suffering the biggest losses to the starting lineup is the returning champs. The Cougars graduated seven seniors from last year's squad and will have eight brand new varsity players, including three freshmen. Key losses include Abbie Noland, Chandler Moore, and Mary Vaccaro. Noland and Moore both finished All League First Team, while Vaccaro was the DFAL MVP.
Still, it will take a lot more than the loss of a few players to prevent Campolindo from following their perfect 12-0 regular season with another great year. The returning state champs are still the favorite to take first in the DFAL this year.
Miramonte looks to be the best challenger for the top spot. Last season, Miramonte finished in second place in DFAL with a solid 8-2 record. The two losses were to the hands of the rival Cougars, but that doesn't mean Miramonte expects to coast through the rest of the league.
"Literally all seven DFAL teams are going to be good this year and we are going to have to put up a fight every match to get a win," said Miramonte head coach Shannon Ross.
Ross hopes the team will improve throughout the season. "As a team we need to be more consistent all year. We need to focus on things we can control, such as our serve receive passing, keeping the ball in play, and limiting little mental errors."
Acalanes' Coach Siegmann mentioned similar areas of improvement, among them the need for leadership. "The number one thing that we need to improve is our on court leadership, it's important in volleyball and we lacked in that department last year."
With official league matches beginning soon, competition and intensity should be high all year in the DFAL.
The season kicks off September 20, with Campolindo facing off against Alhambra, Acalanes against Las Lomas, while Miramonte has a bye. Two days later is the first Lamorinda rivalry match as the Cougars travel to face the Dons.
"I definitely think the DFAL is going to remain one of the top divisions in NCS ... with a lot of teams battling to take the league title, it should be a very fun year," Ross predicted.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA