Benefield: Volleyball season will be a battle for league supremacy

North Bay League volleyball has not lacked parity or fierce competition in recent years – remember the four-way tie for the league championship banner two years ago?

We aren’t likely to see that again, but this year, the first under the newly-configured North Bay League with its Oak and Redwood divisions, could produce night after night of excellent contests with no shortage of upsets. In other words: fun.

“It’s going to be interesting because it’s going to be a dog fight every single night,” Cardinal Newman coach Jeff Nielson said.

The Cardinals went 18-12 overall last season and 7-4 in league, but they are a team on the radar of Montgomery coach Becky Stavropolous.

“I think us, Newman and Santa Rosa could be the tougher teams for different reasons,” she said. “Santa Rosa has the defending league title, they have a bunch of returners, so they have a lot of the pieces. They are definitely going to be tough again this year.”

First-year Santa Rosa coach Rob Beal inherits a squad with the likes of junior setter Sophia Oden and seniors libero Jenna Kim and middle hitter Isa Ponce. All three were first team all-league picks last season.

“She’s a very athletic player,” Beal said of Ponce. “She’s got an incredible jump, very high and has very good hang time. She’s a really good blocker, very quick, getting side to side.”

Ponce, along with Kim, are team captains.

“She plays at a high energy level,” Beal said of Kim.

Stavropolous knows.

“She’s the best libero ball controller, one of the best in the league,” she said of Kim. “We want to keep the ball away from her when we play Santa Rosa.”

Stavropolous said her roster, long in talent, now has a couple of years at the varsity level under their collective belt which should pay dividends. At her disposal are middle blocker Hannah White, the co-MVP of the league last season. And first-team all-league picks, senior Kailey MacKinnon and junior Laney O’Neil – the sophomore other than Oden to earn first team honors last season.

“We have pretty much a lot of the pieces,” she said. “Our talent is in that junior, senior class finally. We are kind of one step higher. We have been very happy in practice the last couple of weeks. We are really looking forward to it.”

League play begins the third week in September. And when it does, there will be no “off” nights.

“Having to play so many tough teams in league, there will be no gimmes,” Stavropoulos said. “That sometimes may be a bit rough.”

New to the group is Analy – a team that went 11-1 in the Sonoma County League last year. After graduating some significant talent, and now facing foes such as Santa Rosa and Montgomery, running up a league record the likes of last year’s won’t be easy.

“It’s a strong list of teams,” Tigers coach Holly Folendorf said.

But for a team eyeing the post season, a twice-weekly barn burner can be good.

“It keeps the flow and focus going into each night,” she said. “You know that it’s going to be a battle and you are prepared for it.”

A number of coaches wondered aloud how the North Coast Section seeding committee would treat the new league and its divisions when it comes time for the postseason. After all, Analy’s 11-1 record will be hard to replicate.

“One thing that NCS does look at is strength of schedule so hopefully they would be taking that into consideration,” Folendorf said.

In the Redwood division, El Molino coach Becky Sani said her Lions trend toward the youthful, but are ready to challenge for the first ever NBL-Redwood crown.

“This year our goal is to win a pennant,” she said. “It’s a big deal for us to take the step and set those goals for our program.”

The Lions were 8-18 overall and 2-10 last year in the final year of Sonoma County League competition. With the departure of league champ Analy, the Lions will have to get through a Healdsburg team that went 15-11 and 6-6 last season, as well as the Piner Prospectors who went 2-10 and 2-8.

“Piner had a really strong JV team last year,” Sani said. “They should have a really strong varsity program this year.”

Ukiah was 6-16 overall and 1-10 in league while Elsie Allen and Rancho Cotate were winless in league.

But the new configuration also means changes for Petaluma and Sonoma Valley from the SCL and Casa Grande from the NBL. They now align with American Canyon, Napa, Vintage and Justin-Siena in the new Vine Valley Athletic League.

With those programs out of the mix, the likes of the El Molino and Piner are suddenly in the conversation about who can contend for league champs.

“At least for the volleyball program it gives us a chance,” Sani said. “It gives us a fighting chance.”

Fighting will be the name of the game on the Oak side of the league where coaches are prepping for upsets, lead changes and a high level of play every time out.

“We are really looking forward to it and getting started,” Montgomery’s Stavropoulos said. “We are preparing for a dog fight twice a week, every week.”

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes “Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”