Amy Strawser had one goal for her daughter Haley and her Wiregrass Ranch High volleyball teammates this season — stability.
That’s why, when the team was potentially facing having to adapt to their third coach in three seasons, Amy, an assistant the previous two years, stepped up.
“These are great girls,” Amy says. “They deserved some continuity.
Led by Haley, a junior who leads the team in virtually every statistical category, the Bulls are 10-8 heading into tonight’s match-up against Sunlake.
How important was the continuity to Amy, who has been coaching for roughly 20 years? Even after suffering a stroke last month, she sent practice plans to her players from the ICU of the Tallahassee hospital where she spent nine days.
“I have an amazing manager, Hailey Portieles,” Amy says. “And this group of girls is really mature. They were really supportive and stepped up to run the practices on their own.”
When Amy returned to the sidelines on Sept. 15, her players greeted her with flowers and signs proclaiming their joy at having their coach back.
Amy can’t help but cry when she recalls the moment. It’s a clear sign the relationship between her and her players is a strong one, and that is paying dividends on the court.
While it was the exceptional work of Portieles keeping things together off the court while Amy was in the hospital, it is Haley who is the glue on the court.
Amy (whose last name was Funkhouser back then) was an All-Hillsborough County outside hitter at Bloomingdale High. She played Division I volleyball at Samford (AL) University and then went into coaching. She put a volleyball in Haley’s hand at the age of three, and the current Bulls standout never looked back.
“I was always around volleyball, and I really liked it,” Haley says. “I like that it’s a mental game, and a smart volleyball player is a good volleyball player. It’s not just a physical game.”
While Amy helped drill home the mental aspect, she also versed her daughter on the variety of skills required to play the game well.
Amy was a 5’-9” outside hitter in college back when you didn’t need to be 6’-3” to stand out; Haley, who is 5’-8” has learned some of those same skills, and then some, leading the Bulls last year with 191 kills.
“It helped a lot (that) she taught me the fundamentals and always made sure I was with good coaches to treat me the correct way,” Haley says. “She made me a better player.”
At the next level, Haley will probably be a setter. She leads the Bulls in assists with 245.
However, as a testament to that all-around game her mother helped her refine, Haley also leads the team in kills (135), aces (54) and digs (245). It is rare to see one volleyball player lead in each of those specific categories.
“I like to focus on being the best that I can be at every skill,” Haley says. “I’m usually a setter, but I like to focus on doing my best on defense and when I’m hitting, I want to make sure I put the ball away.”
Amy says her daughter isn’t the only standout on the team.
Seniors Gianna Ginesin (28 aces, 96 digs) and Victoria Vizcaino (51 kills, 25 blocks) also are key contributors, and Ayanna Klaiber-Norris heads up a junior class that has the potential to do big things next season.
“I think our junior class is going to make some waves,” Amy says.
Klaiber-Norris, a 6-ft.-tall middle hitter, is second on the team in kills (95) and first in blocks (45), and Marisabel Monserate is a defensive standout with 97 digs. Along with the development of freshmen Ava Sperling, who has 61 kills and is described as fearless by Amy, and Karen Hill (68 blocks), the Bulls are on an upward trend.
Even in two of their losses this year, the Bulls managed to take two sets off Mitchell and a set off Wesley Chapel, two teams expected to make deep playoff runs this season, and have been competitive against the likes of playoff-probables Bloomingdale’s and Palm Harbor University.
“We’re definitely hopeful,” says Haley. “We have to potential to do well, and I think we will.”
Amy doesn’t want to have to send in game plans from a hospital bed again, but one thing is clear — she will do whatever she needs to do to draw out the potential of her budding Bulls.
“I have high hopes for this team,” Amy says, and then, with a laugh, added that when she was watching the team play via streaming in the hospital, her nurses were asking her what she was doing. “I think I was setting my heart monitor off.”
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