Northgate Girls Volleyball Preview: Young Broncos Face High Expectations

School: Northgate

Sport: Girls volleyball

Coach: David Weiland

2009 record: 11-1 DVAL, 28-11 overall

Key returners: Kelli McCurdy, Maddie Hagen

Quote: "I always put expectations out there and strive to push to reach them." Coach David Weiland

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For the last seven years David Weiland has been associated with the Northgate High girls volleyball team, the Broncos have been a standard of excellence. Seasons that ended with 30 wins or more were not unheard of and last year's team finished 28-11 and won the Diablo Valley Athletic League title with an 11-1 record.

But 2010 will open with Weiland serving in his first year as the team's head coach and will do so with only two varsity players returning from the 2009 squad.

So is Weiland going to be willing to accept anything less than his young team living up to the expectations of seasons past?

"I always put expectations out there and strive to push to reach them," Weiland said.

In other words, he may have a young team with little varsity experience heading into its league title defense, but he is still expecting them to play like league champions.

With a squad of five sophomores, five juniors and two seniors — Kelli McCurdy and Maddie Hagen — Weiland will need his team to gel quickly. He has already started that process, even though the team is still about two weeks from playing its first game and just under a month from its league opener.

"We took them to an outdoor sand court and played six-on- six," Weiland said. "We told them to just have some fun, talk to each other, get used to playing together and come together as a team."

While more experienced players are always preferred by any coach, Weiland is not worried about the challenge of coaching a young team.

"It is a matter of what you are given to coach," Weiland said. "We are a young team and we have some nice young talent. It is just a matter of how they come together."

And Weiland expects his team will come together and make a good showing in defending its DVAL title. But the won-loss record is not Weiland's primary concern.

"Winning is a good thing, but is not the only thing," Weiland said. "We will not have a win at all cost mentality. I want them to have fun playing too. Hopefully, we're going to surprise some people and sneak up on them."

That is Weiland's expectations for the Broncos and it shouldn't come as a surprise if his team rises up and meets them.

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