Westminster volleyballers learning new winning ways

Westminster volleyball coach Kim Norman really only wanted to know one thing from the players who talked to her about playing for the Griffins.

"She asked me if I knew how to win," said Hunter High graduate Celestial Alofipo, now a freshman outside hitter for the team.

Brittani Willardson, who was an all-state volleyball and basketball player at Richfield High School last year, said it was that line of questioning that sold her on Norman and Westminster.

"She said, 'You better want to win, because we're going to win,' " said the freshman middle blocker. "I liked that attitude, because I'm very competitive."

Norman's strategy for turning a perennial loser into a volleyball power was simple. Take good athletes who were used to winning under the direction of coaches who taught them as much about being good people as they did about being good players and teach them more volleyball technique than they ever knew existed.

The result is a Frontier Conference championship, a No. 5 ranking in the conference, and the opportunity to host the NAIA regional this weekend.

"I'm really proud of them," said Norman. "This has been a Cinderella team, and these kids are on a mission. They're doing it, and they're young and doing it. It's been really, really fun."

The Griffins open this weekend's regional tournament with No. 2 seed Northwest University and Westminster, a fifth seed, Thursday at 9 a.m. The semifinals are scheduled for Friday and the championship is Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

The most remarkable aspects of the turnaround are how it happened in just two years and how Norman did it using exclusively Utah athletes. When Norman took over the program two years ago, the Griffins had won just a single match. Last year they finished 6-18, but with an infusion of local freshmen, the team is making a lot of noise this season.

"I've always known there are a lot of good club volleyball kids in Utah," said Norman, who has coached in college, club and high school for nearly 20 years.

The hardest part of Norman's job wasn't teaching volleyball skills; it was letting players know there were options outside of a division one or junior college program.

"I've lived in Sugar House all my life, and I had never been on this campus," Norman said. "We have a national image, but we don't have a local presence. We need to get the word out that Westminster is here and volleyball is here."