Sobrato is coming off of a Santa Teresa Division championship, its second straight year of contending for a league title and lost just five seniors from last year’s squad.
Any coach would be happy to have that kind of a group for the start of the new season, but none are happier than the Bulldogs’ newest coach Julia Brewer.
“We have a lot of potential. I hope we grow on that. In my first season, I’m super excited to be here,” Brewer said. “It’s one of my passions and I’m ready to work with the girls and see how far we can go this year.”
Brewer, a transplant from Turlock, takes over for coach Teresa Hodges who officially stepped down at the end of the last season.
She however is battling not just learning a new area and new set of girls, but is doing so without the benefit of a summer program having been hired just before the team’s first game on Aug. 29.
But Brewer is optimistic.
She is working to get her girls into shape by having them work largely on conditioning, a feature that she found successful when she helped lead her Pitman High School team to its first ever section title in 2011.
“I’ve been working them out to get their stamina up and some drills to get them going at a fast pace,” Brewer said.
She said they do conditioning 30 to 45 minutes at the start of practice before going into drills.
“That’s what I had when I was playing and it helped tremendously,” Brewer said. “We got to get that stamina. We have to have that, especially for the really long games.”
Right now, Brewer said the goal is to get her rotation set.
She said the first couple of weeks is about establishing roles on the court and seeing who works well with which players.
“We have a good pot of girls with different skills and we’re going to work with it,” Brewer said.
First and foremost, Brewer said Hailey Jones has locked down the setter’s position and noted that the girls seems to gel well with her.
“I’m very thankful for it,” Brewer said. “I was a setter so I know the leadership role it takes and teaching that leadership role is very difficult because most girls don’t realize they are basically it. They’re the quarterback. I feel having her already established and already having relationships with the other girls makes it easier.”
She brought up three freshmen and a sophomore to the team. Brewer said all of them can play different positions well and have a skill set that make them ready for varsity play this year.
Also up front, Sobrato has some size to work with.
Returning junior Jessica Bryum measures up at 6 feet with Mackenzie Turnipseed measuring 5-10 and Jenna Fields at 5-9.
“If we keep working, we’ll be a team to reckon with. I know our hitters are hard and we’re going to keep pushing. I’m going to keep pushing them until they are the perfect hitter.”
On defense, freshman Annette Angeles and senior Taylor Tran have helped to solidify the back row as Brewer helps to bring others along into her system.
Sobrato next plays in the Watsonville Tournament Saturday starting at 8 a.m.
