Kent-Meridian volleyball shredding underdog reputation

Don’t let Kent-Meridian’s South Puget Sound League North volleyball record fool you.

Though the Royals had lost to Auburn Riverside early on in the league season, Kent-Meridian, which early this week stands at 2-1 in league and 12-1 overall, has worked hard so far this fall to build on what the 2011 team accomplished with the first trip to state since 1998.

Royals outside hitter Chloe Watson said she was just 3 years old when Kent-Meridian volleyball last went to state.

That underdog reputation K-M athletics has in general might have served the team well, but it’s possible the volleyball squad might be making changes there.

“We’ve slowly but surely made a name for ourselves,” Watson said. “Every year Kent-Meridian comes in as underdogs. We’re OK with that because we have confidence in ourselves. I definitely think the volleyball program alone is letting the assumptions and weird things people say about our school, we’re turning that around.”

Watson added that she and her teammates represent the school well, not just in how they play on the court, but how they act off of it.

This season is going to be even better for Royals volleyball, Watson said.

“Just coming into the season, I’ve been so stoked and excited,” Watson said. “Not just because it’s my senior year but because I see more potential for this team than any other team I’ve played on.”

She has been on the varsity since her freshman year so she knows a little something about that.

And even though the team has four returning starters from a group that surprised everyone by making it to the 4A state tournament last year where it upset perennial powerhouse Woodinville in the first round, Watson knows the Royals have all the right ingredients for success.

The recipe includes athletic talent, character, coaching, confidence and most importantly, chemistry.

This year the goal is to win and take it one game at a time, Watson said.

“I see it in all of us, that fire that is in us when we lose,” she said. “Our main thing is to learn what we’re doing wrong and fix it. At first I was thinking, ‘This young team, how are we going to handle it?’ But our chemistry is so good.”

The Royals, now that they know how to get to state and what that experience is like, can’t wait to get back.

Junior setter Anna Laban, who was a starter last year, said her role on the floor is to “just make good plays.”

Which is easy, Laban said, because her teammates are fun to play with. Just as Watson, she sees chemistry as the team’s primary strength.

Laban is proud of how the team has progressed this year, especially a victory in a tournament early in the season against Skyline, the team that kept Kent-Meridian from taking home a trophy from state.

This year, the goal is to go further, get some hardware, and if everything falls into place possibly contend for the title.

“We just need to keep working on the little things,” Laban said. “Each of us just need to play our own game and play our best.”

Faith Faamausili, a junior middle hitter, sees big things for the Royals.

“We want a league title,” Faamausili said. “And we want to go back to state. We want to dominate state. If we made it last year then I think we have the skills to go back.”

A year ago they came up with a motto, “Teamwork made the dream work.”

It’s just the kind of attitude that could help the Royals’ big dreams this season come true.

As the returning players become strong leaders, Faamausili said, the team has come together on and off the court. They see each other as family.

“Our passion for volleyball grew bigger,” she said. “We connected with each other. We brought it together as one. We call each other a pack. We can’t leave someone behind.”

Though the Royals were once considered underdogs, Faamausili said, things have changed.

“We have become people’s rivals,” she said. “Now teams are looking forward to playing us. We’re not afraid to dominate.”

Watson said Kent-Meridian volleyball is ready for the tough teams it will encounter in SPSL North Division play, one of the toughest leagues in the state, because of all the challenges coach Michael Christiansen, who is in his sixth year, has provided for them since the season began.

“We’ve been playing teams that have been continually better,” Watson said. “I don’t think there’s a team we’ll come across that we won’t be prepared for.”