SHS enters top league with veterans, new coach
MORGAN HILL — Laura Coleman has coached volleyball for almost 30 years, but could not recall the last time she coached a boys team.
However long it’s been, Coleman picked a great squad for her return.
In an interesting twist, Coleman, who also coaches the girl’s volleyball team at Live Oak, is now skippering the boy’s program at Sobrato, wielding a team that from infancy made leaps and bounds under former coaches Kevin and Rosemary Miller.
“Boys’ personalities are way different than girls’,” Coleman said Thursday. “You get to yell at them differently; push them harder. These guys are really respectful. They want to learn. They don’t mind working hard — the harder, the better.”
Coleman backpedaled into the Sobrato position in November, when she told assistant coach Scott Schilling she would be head coach if he couldn’t find anyone else.
“There’s just not that many boys coaches,” Coleman said. “Girls coaches tend to coach girls club in the spring. I’m also coaching a club team now. So things are kind of hectic.”
The Bulldogs are still piecing together their roster, which — tentatively — includes 2008 co-Santa Teresa Division MVP Jared Mammen, Freshman of the Year setter Taylor Schilling and second-team all-league middle blocker Robert Bowen. Mammen and teammate Danny Jensen are still hammering out eligibility issues.
The team will need both for its debut season in the Mount Hamilton Division, the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s top class.
“We’re anticipating they’ll be back in the next couple of weeks,” Scott Schilling said. “If all goes well, we should be fine.”
With Jensen back, Sobrato will have a pair of 6-foot-3 middle blockers in him and Bowen, plus 5-foot-9 returning starter Sims Jose. Last year, Taylor Schilling and Mammen were like Montana and Rice.
“Taylor is the biggest advantage we have,” said Bowen, a senior. “He gives you the experience you need, especially when a game comes down to a couple points. I’d say, 80 percent of the time, his sets are right on — but he needs someone like Jared to go to. We’re going to be awesome when he gets back.”
The Bulldogs have started the year 1-1 in nonleague matches, beating Lincoln and falling to Gilroy. Offensively, they have relied on Schilling, plus outside hitters Estevan Santiago and Alex Jaguello. Sobrato has started football standout Ali Aryanpour on the back line, flanking senior libero Jason Binn.
“Our strength right now is defense and not wanting the ball to drop,” Coleman said.
The team has focused on fundamentals and getting back up to speed. Passing is coming along.
“We’re going to do pretty well once we get better passing and better hitting,” Schilling said. “We like working with Laura. She’s a lot of fun to work with, and she pushes us.”
Most of the seniors have been played together for all four years. They were part of last year’s team that finished second in the Santa Teresa at 13-11 overall and 6-3 in league.
The newcomers are fresh off a promising campaign as well.
“I think we can make CCS,” Jose said. “We’ve been together so long and have great chemistry. We’re learning new stuff right now, having a new coach, but it’s good stuff. We have different advantages this year.”
Sobrato jumped to the Mount Hamilton along with 2008 Santa Teresa champion Branham. The Bulldogs have plenty of prep time ahead before their March 31 league opener at Westmont.
This weekend, Sobrato will play in a 12-team tournament at Leland High School, an event Coleman likened to a litmus test.
“To be honest, I have no clue how we’re going to do in the ‘A’ league, but we’re going to find out this weekend,” she said. “That tournament will let me and the players know where we are.”
