With height and depth on his volleyball team, Seabury Hall coach Scottie Zucco wants one more thing to round out his squad.
“In the my last eight years, this is the deepest it’s ever been. Some of the kids coming off the bench would start on other programs,” Zucco said. “We’re a deep team, but the one I’d like to find and encourage in our team is leadership. Being such a deep team, players can step up, but you need that one person everyone can look to.”
His Spartans start the season ranked No. 9 in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s volleyball poll.
Zucco returns three 6-foot-1 starters from last year’s Maui Interscholastic League championship team that finished sixth in the state Division II tournament.
Kiki Leuteneker started her Seabury career as a middle blocker, then moved to outside, and could play there and at opposite this season. Leuteneker has already committed to Oregon State.
Shayla Hoeft returns at outside hitter, as does state high jump champion Amy Ozee. Zucco has several 5-foot-11 players to add to the net presence. He said jumping isn’t a problem on this squad.
Wins and losses don’t top Zucco’s priority list. One of his biggest goals is to give his deep team as much playing time as possible.
“(Coaching) a small private school on Maui, I feel my job is to get in as many of my kids as I can in there, play them as much as possible without sacrificing the group,” he said.
No. 10 Hawaii Prep
Hawaii Prep had an unprecedented season last year, finishing as runner-up in the state Division II tournament. It was the furthest Ka Makani have gone in the state tournament.
Making it back this year, though, will be a major task after it graduated seven seniors. HPA is ranked No. 10 in the Star-Advertiser volleyball poll.
“We’ve got four returnees,” said coach Sharon Peterson. “We’re rebuilding and we’ll do the best we can. But we got a long way to go before we get a starting lineup.”
Senior Gabbie Ewing does everything for Ka Makani, and again will be a central part of the offense. The 5-7 hitter had 22 kills and 25 digs in last year’s four-set loss to Konawaena in the state Division II championship match. Ewing was also captain of last year’s D-II state championship soccer team.
“She’s probably our best all-around player, backbone of the team,” Peterson said. “We (will) see if we can give her a good support group to play with.”
Senior Alaina Bradley returns at middle blocker and senior Anna Juan is back at middle/opposite.
“She (Bradley) got her feet wet last year,” Peterson said. “I’m hoping she can be a strong force. At the end, she started getting the idea of the game and started getting comfortable with it and was more confident.”
Setter Elizabeth Jim moves up from the junior varsity and rejoining the team will be Ula Brostek, who played two years ago but sat out last season. She’s the daughter of former NFL offensive lineman Bern Brostek.
