The Rainier High School volleyball team believes that improved communication can lift it from a great team into a championship team.
The Mountaineers enjoyed their best postseason run in school history in 2023 as they earned a fourth-place finish at the 2B state tournament in Yakima, marking the first time RHS ever placed at state.
Carrie Ooms, Rainier’s head coach, opened the first day of practice for the 2024 season by emphasizing the importance of communication among teammates, especially with five seniors moving on from last year’s team. She, as well as the Mountaineers’ new group of four seniors, said poor communication was one of the team’s only obstacles last year.
“Communication is huge. If you’re not talking to your teammates on the court, it can win or lose you games,” Ooms said. “It’s bigger than what a lot of people realize. I think we have to bring them a little bit of tough love for part of the season to get them kick started and to make sure that if that starts to slip, we bring them right back to where they need to be.”
Senior Janess Blackburn said the Mountaineers were too loose as a team last year and were afraid to make mistakes. She hopes that this unit can become more tight-knit so that communication comes naturally.
“Us as seniors have to make sure that everyone feels included and safe to make mistakes. [Last year] it just felt like we were all on edge like, ‘If I mess up, that’s it,’” Blackburn said.
Acacia Murphy — an All-Central 2B League First Team honoree last year — said she and her fellow seniors, including Blackburn, Brooklynn Swenson and Annabelle Whiteman, want to give the newcomers opportunities to grow and advice as the season draws closer.
“I feel like communication is the biggest problem we have, and this year, we really need to solve it. Coach was head on with that,” Murphy said. “I think we’ll be able to overcome it. With all of these seniors coming together, we’ll be able to teach the young ones to communicate better. We didn’t have that as freshmen.”
Ooms and the Mountaineers are adjusting to a new practice schedule and a new-look roster heading into the 2024 season. They typically have two weeks of two-a-day practices, but with the WIAA shifting the volleyball schedule, they just have one before their season opener on Sept. 9. The roster, which combined to have 32 or 33 players across varsity, junior varsity and C-team last year, now includes just 17 athletes.
Swenson said the late start for the first practice has pushed the team to work harder than ever before. The Mountaineers opened the preseason with an 8 a.m. conditioning session on Monday, Aug. 26, before hitting the court for a 4 p.m. practice that afternoon.
“You definitely have to work a lot harder because it’s limited time. It pushes you to work hard. It motivates you,” she said. “If you want it, then you just do it.”
The Mountaineers expect to be among the top schools in the Central 2B League once again, along with Adna, Napavine and newcomer Mossyrock. Rainier finished the 2023 season with a 16-6 record, but Blackburn and Whiteman said stronger communication could lead to more wins and perhaps some jewelry in Yakima in November.
“I want to go to state. I want to win a trophy. Fourth is really good for us, but I think we can do better,” Whiteman said. “It’ll take a lot of talking. We have a small group this year, but that just means we have to get closer with each other.”
“Once we hit that mark of trusting each other and talking and calling all the plays that we’re going to do, that’s going to get us a ring, for sure,” Blackburn added.
Rainier returns its four seniors, as well as key sophomores Allyson Ooms and Liberty Adair and junior setter Katelyn Eckroth. Haleigh Hanson, Olivia Earsley and Lilly Johnson are among the graduated seniors who played significant roles in the Mountaineers’ run to a fourth-place finish in Yakima last year.
While the team may lack depth as a whole, Ooms likes the versatility of her players, from her experienced seniors to some exciting young talent.
“I put Janess at middle blocker when we played summer league with Napavine, and she did amazing and she loved it. So I have multiple options,” she said. “Same thing with some of my passers. Liberty Adair is a great defensive player, so there’s a possibility of her playing libero there. I have very few players that are set in one spot, but everybody else can be moved around as needed. Everybody’s pretty flexible.”
Ooms also highlighted incoming freshman Ellie Pringle as a player with “great potential” and said her daughter, Allyson, improved this summer as her club team qualified for national competition in Las Vegas in July. The sophomore earned an All-Central 2B League Second Team nod as a freshman in 2023.
“It was great watching other coaches help make her a better player and improve her skills and just to watch her grow,” Ooms said of Allyson. “Not only as a parent but as a coach, I expect great things from her this season. I’m really excited to see how she continues as a player.”
The Mountaineers open the season at home at 7 p.m. against Seton Catholic College Prep on Monday, Sept. 9. Until then, Ooms wants to see hustle, improvement in communication and intensity on the court.
“Even on the first day of practice, you can see some of them have that drive or the want to be here,” she said last week. “I had a few that were excited for conditioning this morning. It’s great to have a group of girls that really want to play, but I want them to just take it up a level and to push themselves even harder than they did when we were at state.”
