BATTLE GROUND — The members of the Firm Foundation volleyball team know who they are and who they are not.
They are not a big team with a bunch of tall and experienced front-line players and a coach with a long resume in the sport.
Rather, they are team comprised mostly of players 5-foot-5 or shorter, some first-year players, an eighth grader and led by someone who learned how to coach volleyball from YouTube.
But the Eagles are also 17-1 and district champions as they prepare for their second straight trip to the 1B state tournament, which opens with a 1:30 p.m. match Thursday against Shoreline Christian.
“One of the things we tell the girls is ‘Don’t try to be someone you’re not,’ ” coach John Stevens said. “When you go in for someone, don’t try to be that person. Be yourself. I think our depth and having kids who know their roles are big parts of our success.”
It’s all part of the team’s motto of “steady and strong.” The Eagles prefer to be patient on the court, allowing their opponents to make the mistakes.
“I had another coach tell me that playing us is like playing a brick wall,” Stevens said. “They try to pound us and pound us until they wear themselves out.”
The Eagles’ tallest players are senior Katie Rommel (5-10) and sophomore Katie Kogler (6-0). Kogler is the standout on the team, accounting for 212 of the team’s 381 kills on the season and 44 of their 56 blocks.
Senior Brooklyn Warren leads the team in assists and eighth-grader Elsa Helmes – WIAA rules permit 1B schools to use eighth graders to fill out their roster – leads the team in digs.
“I don’t know if we are where we are without her,” Stevens said of Helmes.
When Firm Foundation, a private Christian school in Battle Ground with about 75 students in the high school grades, first launched its volleyball program four years ago, they called on Stevens to be the coach. Stevens was the boys basketball coach at the time.
“The last four years has been like Volleyball 101 for me,” Stevens said. “I didn’t know a lot about volleyball when I started, except what I remember from playing beach volleyball growing up in California. But the girls have been really patient. Often, you just have to watch them play and go with your instincts. And also you can learn a lot from watching tutorials on YouTube.”
The turning point for the Eagles this year came in a 3-0 loss to Naselle on Oct. 2 after the Eagles opened the season 7-0.
“After that first game, we stepped up working on our defense,” Warren said. “Our defense was better prepared for the next two times we played them.”
On Oct. 18, the Eagles traveled to Naselle and came away with a 3-2 win.
“I think that first game was just an off one,” Kogler said. “The second time, we kind of rallied together.”
Last weekend in Tumwater, Firm Foundation met Naselle again, this time for the district title. The Eagles also had to play without sophomore Abbie Helmes, who broke her foot after stepping on a teammate’s foot in the district opener.
“After we lost our other setter, we had to put in some JV players,” Kogler said. “It was harder to adjust to that.”
But the Eagles did, winning another back-and-forth in five sets.
The victory has given the Eagles confidence and created a buzz among the other students at the small school.
“They are very encouraging,” Rommel said. “They get involved. A lot of them came to districts, which was really great. And some are going to state. It’s fun to talk to them about it at school.”
Warren added: “We had T-shirts made that we are selling around schools. And we have a big send-off planned, so that’s really exciting.”
Firm Foundation’s last trip to state was a quick one, as the Eagles lost both matches they played.
“Last year when we went, it was kind of overwhelming walking in there,” Warren said. “Walking in there, it was this huge, big place, lots of courts, lots of background noise, lots of stuff going on. We weren’t necessarily prepared for it. But this year, we know what it’s like and know what to expect.”
After being ranked 13th in the state last year, the Eagles enter state at No. 5 this year, boosting their hopes of advancing to Friday’s matches and perhaps coming home with a trophy.
But Warren said this weekend will be mostly about having fun “because (state) is a blast.”
Rommel said: “I mostly expect to make a lot of memories because this is my senior year.”
Then she paused.
“But I’d really like to win at least one game. At least.”
