With a new coach, the volleyball team is seeking to improve over last year’s disappointing season. Jose Ramos, a Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps, is hoping to bring a dynamic change to the volleyball program. His vast experience as both a player and coach gives him the angles of teaching that he will need to help the team have a successful season.

As a player Ramos received many awards during his career, including MVP for Alisal. The history that Ramos and Alisal have was one of the main reasons why he decided to come back and take the lead with the girls’ team. Ramos was the TCAL coach of the year in 2010 while he coached the Salinas High School boys’ volleyball team. Some of the coach’s expectations for his team this season are to bring a CCS title to Alisal and to defeat their main in league rival, Monterey. Ramos’ experience and discipline he learned in his time in the military have provided him with the skill necessary to push the girls to their limit in order to meet his expectations for this season.

Last year the team finished tied for third with North County at 5-7 in league, and now they are hoping to win their division and bring in a CCS banner. “We definitely have a good shot at getting that banner this year and with the work that these girls have demonstrated, I know that his goal is possible for the team,” said Ramos.  He is hoping to unite the team as much as possible to enhance the communication in the court. “I force the girls to be in different social situations so they can learn to work as a team on and off the court,” he said.

Sarahi Valencia, a senior captain and a varsity player for the last two years, was definitely surprised to see some of the changes Ramos had implemented during tryouts. “Ramos won’t let you slack off and he holds us to a higher standard than any coach I’ve ever had,” she said.  “Ramos has made us work more as a team and less individually, he gives us higher standards and he is doing what a coach should be doing.”

One player who’s having to adjust to both a new coach and a new school is Alexis Rosales, a transfer from Alvarez. But Rosales wasn’t a complete stranger to these girls, “Diamonds (a club volleyball team) has served as a bonding experience between some of these girls and me.” As a senior, Rosales would like to bring a CCS title to Alisal and defeat her old school.

A CCS banner seems to be the main goal shared by all players. Cynthia Huerta, a captain and returning varsity player is certainly ready for this season’s competition. “Some girls are overwhelmed with competition, but I know that this season should be a piece of cake,” she said. “Conditioning will be a great asset to the team and this will help us win those 5 set games.”

The team must prepare for the long competitive games that they’ll have this season. With last season’s losing record the program is staying in the Pacific league while Alvarez moved to the Gabilan Division, separating these rivals.

While they were separated from their rival Alvarez there will not be a shortage of competition this year in the Pacific Division. Monterey is the target this season according to Ramos. “Monterey showed some good competitive potential but I’m confident that the team has worked hard enough to win.”

Despite winning their first two matches, against North Salinas, in a sportsmanship game, and Alvarez, the team then dropped their next five, to stand at 1-5 in the preseason. Marisol Gonzales, a returning varsity player has spotted several flaws in the team’s game lately. “We can’t be carrying negative emotions into new games, you can notice how the team just gives up on themselves,” Gonzales said.

The teams’ lack of ability to finish a game strong is apparent to other players as well. Nicole Gomez, a sophomore and returning varsity player, offered her opinion about the reason why the team is not doing as well as they should be. “The team doesn’t take the games as seriously as they did against Alvarez, and this is leads the team to lose games that could be won. When we’re down the teams gives up and stops all communication in the court,” said Gomez.

Ramos’ take on the team’s losing streak was in line with Gomez, saying he felt the team got complacent and was making a lot of mental mistakes, which led to frustration on the girls’ part.

These observations are not taking lightly by Valencia. “The team doesn’t give up and gives it their all in every game,” said Valencia. “I try to do my best to keep the team focused and help them leave their emotions aside”, this leadership is greatly needed in a team when they’re losing focus of the main objective, to win.

The team seems to have found their focus with the start of league, jumping out to a 2-0 record with wins over Watsonville and North County.