Olympia's volleyball team has its eyes on the prize

Olympia’s girls volleyball team won the Metro West Tournament, and it doesn’t intend to stop there. 

The girls’ eyes are set on states. 

Head coach Semei Tello said the players have a checklist: Win the district tournament, win regionals and make it to the Final Four. They are working toward those goals one day at a time, with a core group of seniors leading the way.

The Titans are sitting pretty with a 17-2 record and No. 1 in district this season. The team has won its district the last three years but came up short in the regional semi-finals. 

Olympia checked off one of its boxes during the Metro West Tournament, held Thursday, Sept. 18, to Saturday, Sept. 20. In 2023, the team won the tournament but last season fell short to Horizon in the semifinal. The Titans claimed its revenge over Horizon this year, defeating the Hawks in three sets. 

“I saw a team that was hungry, a team that was determined and a team that wasn’t going to give up again,” Tello said. “I would remind them, ‘You guys remember what happened last year?’ They were playing with a chip on their shoulder, and you could tell there was a lot of senior leadership going into that match, and they were excited.” 

Olympia senior setter Madison Wehr said tournaments feel more important than regular games because it is against teams in conference. Winning them allows the team to make history at the school as she gestured toward the freshly added banner. 

Each win begins in serve receive. 

STARTS WITH THE FIRST PASS

One of the most undervalued positions is the libero. It is the player in a different color jersey who only plays in the back row. 

The libero doesn’t attack the ball, so the player doesn’t grab the spotlight on the court. However, the libero is the foundation of a volleyball team, and without the initial dime of a first pass, the whole team would crumble.

“If your pass is not there, it doesn’t matter how good your setter is or how good your offense and hitters are,” Tello said. “But our libero, Eliza Perdue, has actually stepped up big time. … You can see her confidence on the court. She’s commanding and pretty much directing traffic in the back row in serve receive.” 

Perdue, a senior, said before games she will make sure everyone is on the same page, committed to working hard and head into each match with a 100% effort mentality. Wehr said Perdue is the most encouraging person on the team when players get in their head.

“On the court, I just help people throughout (the game) and let people know that if you’re not at your own 100% then there’s other people who can help make up for that,” Perdue said. 

The team emphasizes building the offensive connections during each practice, and Perdue credited Tello’s focus on the first contact to the success this season. Her club coaches focus on that element, too, but Tello dedicates at least half an hour of each practice to working on the passes out of serve receive. 

“I feel like that’s what really wins the game too, especially since we’re middle-driven,” she said. “If we have good serve receive, it’s going to help us.”

Olympia runs a middle-heavy offense, a rarity in volleyball. 

To set her middles, Wehr needs a perfect pass, because sets to a middle are short and close to the net, which gives the hitter little time to attack the ball. Wehr’s role is the next important step in creating a dominating offense. 

“You can have the best hitters in the world, but if you don’t have the setter to get them the ball, it really doesn’t matter,” Tello said. “The setter is like the quarterback of a football team.” 

In Wehr’s senior year, her court knowledge has grown remarkably as well as the connection with her hitters. She’s aiming to record 2,000 assists before the end of the season because she recorded 1,000 assists in her first two seasons.

The Middle Tennessee commit was terrified her freshman year. Wehr constantly was pushed by her coaches and teammates to improve and it scared her. Now that she’s a senior, she understands the drive and the importance of helping out the younger players. 

GROWTH TO LEADERSHIP 

“The seniors taught me how to be a leader and just take care of the younger girls and make everyone feel welcome, to make sure we’re doing things together as a team,” Perdue said. 

Perdue played with her older sister on varsity the first two years and looked up to her. She’s close with many of the underclassmen on the team and her younger sister and wants to be a person upon whom they can rely.

It took time and growth to achieve that role. 

Tello has loved being able to see the core group of four seniors on the team grow over the four years. As freshmen, they were talented but needed fine-tuning to help them stand out and excel on varsity. 

“Freshman year … I was really shy and scared, and I wanted to quit,” she said. “I just thought everything was so hard, and the seniors and coaches were hard on me. But looking back on it, they were just pushing me to do better.”

As a senior, Wehr now understands they were trying to help her grow. She said it means a lot to play as a senior because it is her last year and the team is pushing for more success. In game settings, she pushed for urgency and effort from her teammates because she has a hunger to win. 

Wehr and Perdue feel respected and looked up to by the underclassmen.

“They understand it now,” Tello said. “I gave them the same speech I give every year: ’This is your senior year. You have to give it all you got. There’s no more next year; this is it.’” 

Tello said although he gives seniors the same talk every year, it doesn’t hit home to players until it’s actually their last year and they’re standing on the court realizing it’s the last regular-season game and could be their last high school game. 

He emphasizes not walking off the court with any regrets.

“That’s been a huge part of our success,” he said. “Back when we were getting our bumps and bruises, we’d get beat up by all the other teams around us (who were) more experienced. Now, we’re that team.”