Three prep volleyball teams go after seventh-straight state title

At first glance, Coventry (Conn.), St. Philip Catholic Central (Battle Creek, Mich.) and Crook County (Prineville, Ore.) have very little in common.

Consider the following:

• St. Philip is a Catholic school with an enrollment of 159. At the beginning of the school year, each student was furnished with an iPad. Battle Creek, founded in 1907, is home to both Kellogg's Cereal and The Battle Creek Cereal Killers roller derby team.

• Coventry is a public school with a student population of 500 and is the focal point of a community celebrating its tricentennial. The town of 12,500 was incorporated in 1712 and is birthplace of Nathan Hale, captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and the official State Hero of Connecticut.

• Crook County has seen its enrollment drop consistently for the last half-dozen years as unemployment has surged to 15 percent. However, a resurgence has begun as Facebook and Apple have built facilities in Central Oregon's oldest community, founded in 1877.

Very different, indeed.

Plus, Coventry's coach never played volleyball and has a baseball background. St. Philip's coach comes from a coaching family and was a standout in both high school and college. And Crook County's coach is a grandmother who attended schools before Title 9 and had no opportunity to play the sport she loves.

But all three schools have one major thing in common: All are seeking a seventh-straight state volleyball title.

St. Philip is 66-2-1 on the season and has a trio of impressive tournament titles to brag about. The Tigers have 15 Michigan championships over the years, and as expected, they are the state's top-ranked D Division team.

See our list of state volleyball playoff brackets and state champions

Crook County is Oregon's top-rated 4A team and is 32-4 on the season with its losses coming against either highly ranked or larger schools. The Cowgirls defeated one of Oregon's top 6A teams recently in Jesuit (Portland, Ore.).

Coventry is rated atop Connecticut's S Division and has lost just three times in the last 10 years and has won 69 straight matches.

Crook County holds the record for consecutive Oregon state titles. A seventh-straight for Coventry and St. Philip would put them one behind their state record holders. Coventry is chasing Darien, which won eight in a row from 2001 to 2009, and the Michigan record is held by Marysville (1997-2004).

The National Federation of High School Associations record is 16 by Cade Episcopal School (Acadiana, La.) , which dominated from 1987-2002.

But, hush. No one wants to look that far ahead. Well, at least it isn't a daily topic.

"We don't talk about," said Rosie Honl at CCHS. "Only thing the girls said was ‘Let's not be the ones who end the streak.' Since then it has just been trying to get better every day."

Honl has coached each of those previous state titles, four at the 5A classification and the last two at 4A.

"We set eight goals at the beginning of the season and don't need to talk about," said Honl. "I thought three of those goals were crazy, but we've reached them as we've faced them."

Among the goals was reaching the finals of four prestigious tournaments, beat rival 5A Summit (Bend) and Portland 6A power Jesuit. They also set out to win their conference, as well as earn the state's top seed for the upcoming 4A state playoffs.

Seven (goals) down and one to go.

"This is exciting. The team is working very hard and looks very good," said Honl. "I just love this. The team is so focused and really improving. Each day, we set goals for each of our practice drills. We readjust if we aren't doing it like we want.

"We're still working on fundamentals," said Honl. "Fundamentals and footwork are the most important things. In practice, we make errors and fix those errors. I'm just trying to get better each day, too."

While the Cowgirls are 4A (750 enrollment), they play primarily larger schools and three of the blemishes on their 34-4-1 record have come against 6A teams in Oregon.

The Cowgirls are led by 5-11 senior Makayla Lindburg (University of Portland committed) and 5-foot-10 junior Hannah Troutman. Lindburg has been named Oregon's 4A Player of the Year the last two seasons and when the Cowgirls won the 5A title in 2009, Lindburg, then a freshman, was named Player of the Game.

Honl figures central Oregon rivals Sisters (ranked No. 2 behind the Cowgirls) and Ridgeview (Redmond) have targeted the defending champs. As for the future, the Cowgirls look strong as four of this year's starting six are underclassmen.

Coventry has the nation's longest winning streak and is 17-0 this season, but to win its seventh-straight state title, the Patriots could face unbeaten Morgan (Clinton) or once-beaten Holy Cross (Waterbury).

Coach Ryan Giberson echoed Honl's comment that the team doesn't talk about the streak or winning state.

"It's kind of understood," he said. "The players come in and just know what to expect."

Giberson is quick to note that his predecessor (Matt Hurlock) is the key to his team's success.

"Matt built this program, has built a strong feeder program and has made it easy for me," said Giberson, who took over in August 2011 after Hurlock died. "He has developed a well-lubed machine. These seniors are his girls."

Paced by Marina Rose (Gatorade Player of Year candidate), Alyssa Keeney, Erika Trudon and Jess Beausoleil, Giberson has yet to lose as a varsity coach.

"When Rose was a sophomore, Matt called her the best player he ever coached," said Giberson. Yet to share her collegiate plans, Rose has narrowed her choices to three.

"I think she's the best defensive player in the state and one of the top three offensively," said Giberson, who coached three unbeaten seasons as the Patriots' junior varsity coach before joining the varsity.

Giberson said he isn't worried about complacency as the program has been designed to ensure the players understand there are "no shortcuts."

"Sometimes our practices are more challenging than our matches," said Giberson, also Coventry's head baseball coach. "But we do worry about injuries and lack of depth."

That lack of depth has not kept him from playing "up" against larger schools.

"We'll play whomever at any level. We like playing up, " said Giberson, who was proud to point out his team has defeated schools with 2,500 enrollments. He also noted that his team likes being the favorite and looks forward to opponents always bringing their best game against the Patriots.

Coventry, with an enrollment of 500, enters state tournament play Nov. 5-7.

Unlike Crook County and Coventry, winning the state title is open conversation at St. Philip.

"We openly talk about winning state," said coach Vicki Groat. "We talk about winning tournaments, winning league and winning state. We also talk about what we need to do to improve and everyone knows it will take hard work to reach our goals."

Groat said her goal is at least nine state titles.

"That's how many mom has and I've got to get there," quipped Groat, who became St. Philip head coach when her mother retired seven seasons ago.

"It's a family recipe," said Groat, who doubles as St. Philip's athletic director. "We get players started at a young age and we see a lot of them in the stands at our matches. They know what it is like to play at St. Philip and want to be part of it."

Led by Amanda McKinzie, a Michigan Miss Volleyball candidate, St. Philip is developing more weapons as the season progresses.

"This team has more weapons and has been together as a whole more than most and know how to compete," said Groat. "We have two great outside hitters, two experienced middles and a great setter. We have a good combination of kids."

That includes two freshman starters.

But let's not talk about eight straight ... just yet. Seven comes first.