Viewmont is pulling pieces together for a strong team

Most teams have some talented individuals, but as any coach knows, the key to success in a team sport like volleyball is finding the right combination of those separate pieces.

"We just picked our teams," said Viewmont coach Lori Salvo, who isn't even sure where some of her returning players will end up this season. "Ada Robinson played middle for us last year, but she can also play outside. We haven't decided where she'll be."

The Vikings, who were voted No. 3 in a preseason poll of Region 1 coaches, also have two athletic setters vying for the same starting job — Sarah Page and Katrina Morgan.

"They're just battling it out in practice right now," Salvo said.

In addition to Robinson, Viewmont returns Fiona Jones, a junior outside hitter, Amy Ernshaw, a senior libero, and Natalie Bonner, a junior middle hitter. They also have the luxury of a number of players who have both varsity and club volleyball experience.

"Every one of them have gotten better," she said. Among those expected to contribute are Lindsey Barnes and Brittney Mortensen, who both played varsity in reserve last season.

While most coaches acknowledge Fremont is the favorite, it is clear that region 1 will be one of the most competitive top to bottom. The wild card right now is the new high school, Syracuse, which began registering students this week. Chris Fish, a longtime assistant at Davis, takes over as the school's head volleyball coach.

Fish said the rest of the region may be surprised by the Syracuse volleyball team.

"Our student body officers have selected a theme for the year and it is 'Exceeding Expectations,"' he said. "So if we work hard and win a few games that we're not supposed to, then we'll be exceeding everyone else's expectations."

Despite the team's youth, Fish knows they will be more competitive than predicted.

"We have some very good athletes," he said. "We only have 16 girls in the program, which is small, and we're inexperienced, so we'll take our lumps. But the girls are just excited to participate and have fun. There is no real pressure on us."

Junior Michelle Arave, an outside hitter, will lead the team's offense, while her sister, freshman Jaclyn Arave, will probably run the team's offense as setter. Michelle played varsity for two years at Clearfield High before Syracuse opened.