Ewe-th movement: Riverview volleyball 'ready to dominate' again

Down two sets to none against Lakewood Ranch High on Aug. 24, and losing in the third, the Riverview High volleyball team needed a spark.

It found one in the form of a kill from junior Abby Quigley. She had taken an overpass, or a free ball, and spiked it through the heart of the Lakewood Ranch defense, and its spirit. The kill was so perfect, it literally brought Quigley’s senior teammate Kayla Walker to tears.

That’s the level of emotion this team carries, and it’s one of the reasons the Rams are a threat in Class 9A this season, despite losing talented seniors and their coach from a season ago, their best season in recent history.

They came back to win that match against Lakewood Ranch in five sets, and are 3-0 on the season, as of Aug. 30.

Last year, the Rams won their first district title since 2006, and eventually reached the Class 9A final four, under coach Craig Wolfe. But Wolfe left in mid-July for rival Venice High.

Returning Rams players said there were no signs of a potential departure before he informed them via email. The news shocked them, but the shock turned into excitement once news of the new coach made the rounds.

New game face

Riverview hired Nickie Halbert, a Venice grad herself who played for Elon University in North Carolina and led the school to a Southern Conference title in 2011. The Rams gig is Halbert’s first head coaching position, and one that she admits she would not have been ready for a few years ago, before learning as an assistant at Gainesville’s Santa Fe College and Ocala’s Trinity Catholic High.

“This is no small task. This is a 9A school, huge enrollment, great program, great kids, great talent,” Halbert said. “I would have been doing them a disservice had I stepped in any earlier.”

She’s taken the golden nuggets of information from both stops and combined them to create a program all her own.

She met with the team for the first time in May, and her players were taken aback by her organization.

The players also appreciate how Halbert implements drills based on what needs work, not following a set schedule no matter what. It keeps things fresh, they said, and leads to more productive practices. On Aug. 28, the Rams’ practice focused on serve-receive passing, because Lakewood Ranch had scored a few too many aces against them for Halbert’s liking.

“The second she came in, she knew exactly what she wanted to do,” junior Tricia Robustelli said.

“That’s when I knew we were going to be OK,” her twin sister, junior Jena Robustelli, added.

The right science

Halbert made chemistry a focal point. That’s not a breakthrough in coaching, but it is an important piece of a successful program, especially in volleyball, when quick communication on the court is vital. In years past, the Rams haven’t needed to hear that point harped on; the recently graduated class had played together for years. Teamwork developed naturally over time.

This group is newer, though, and it’s something they’ll have to work on throughout the season. Halbert and her players know that.

It’s why they have already started having team dinners before each match, and why the twins enthusiastically greet younger members of the team in the hallway, every time.

It helps, too, to have a leader such as Kayla Walker who  doubles as the team’s resident comedian. She calls her sense of humor sarcastic, an “either you get it or you don’t” type of thing, but Quigley called her the funniest person she knows.

The coach isn’t the only difference between the 2016 and 2017 Rams. Senior stalwarts from last year, such as Samantha Norden, Courtney Searles and Riverview’s player of the year, Margo Schnapf, are gone. The team is younger now, with players such as the twins forced to step into larger roles. This doesn’t mean they lack talent. Quigley’s kills electrify, while Walker brings experience and emotion at the setter position, and her sister, sophomore Riah Walker, was named a MaxPreps All-American last season. The elder Walker called her sister the best passer with whom she’s ever played.

Dominate, dominate

The Rams have started slowly at times this season, like against Lakewood Ranch, a habit Halbert is desperate for them to break. It might cost them eventually, but it hasn’t yet, and so far that is one of the only flaws of a team eager to finish what it started last season, despite the offseason facelift.

“We’re definitely ready to dominate again,” Tricia Robustelli said. “I think despite losing a lot of players, we still want to be Riverview. We want people to know that Riverview is here to stay.”