Before they put on their jerseys and go to battle on the court, seven of the eight high school girls volleyball teams on the South Coast gathered at Bishop Diego’s Brick House Gym on Wednesday for the first Girls Volleyball Media Day.
The event was put on by Bishop Diego coach Dillan Bennett and the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club, where many of the players compete during their offseason.
Before the Media Day, the coaches from Santa Barbara High, San Marcos, Dos Pueblos, Bishop Diego, Laguna Blanca, Cate, Carpinteria and Providence voted on a South Coast Area Preseason Top 8 and selected a Preseason All-Area Team.
San Marcos, which returns several starters, including first-team All-Channel League outside hitter Elena Thomas and second-team setter Josie Gamberdella, was voted No. 1 in the poll. Both players are juniors.
“We lost, I believe, nine seniors, so even though we’re young, the team has already shown us great promise and is eager to compete at a high level,” said Sheffey.
“It’s very promising,” said Gamberdella. “I have been setting Elena since I was 10 years old, so that’s always good to have. We have a lot of tall lefties, which I’m excited about and we also have tall middles.”
Santa Barbara, which returns first-team middle Nicole Schuetz and second-team libero Tessa de Albergaria, came in second, followed by Bishop Diego, Dos Pueblos, Cate, Laguna Blanca, Carpinteria and Providence.
Seven players were named to the All-Area team, with four of them being juniors. That group is led by Bishop Diego’s All-CIF honoree and Tri-Valley League MVP Eliana Urzua, who recently committed to UCLA for indoor volleyball. The other juniors are Schuetz of Santa Barbara and Thomas and Gamberdella of San Marcos.
The seniors selected to the squad include Santa Barbara’s de Albergaria, Laguna Blanca middle Sarah Woodhouse and Cate opposite hitter Melanie Davidson.
Each team got its turn on stage to talk about the upcoming season.
San Marcos was represented by Gamberella, outside hitter Kaylin Cooney, Thomas, libero Katie Kracke and assistant coach Chelsea Sheffey.
Santa Barbara High assistant Linnea Mendoza brought Schuetz, setters Gwen Chenoweth and Stella Borgioli and de Albergaria.
Dos Pueblos head coach Megan O’Carroll came with sophomore middle Addison Low and junior setter Halle Rillie.
Cate coach Jordon Dyer brought his standout opposite Davidson, while Laguna Blanca longtime coach Jason Donnelly introduced all-Frontier League middle Sarah Woodhouse.
Bishop Diego’s Urzua was joined by all-TVL setter Sage Thorne-Thomsen and middle Vivi Klentner.
Dan Terry, the new athletic director at Providence, said the school was moving to the former Girls Inc. facility on Ortega Street, which has a gymnasium for the volleyball team to practice and play matches.
Carpinteria did not attend the event.
The high school girls volleyball season begins Tuesday, Aug. 15 with four matches: Santa Barbara hosts Saugus, San Marcos is home to Hart, Dos Pueblos opens against Royal at home and Bishop Diego plays at Oak Park.