Raquel Silva

LONG CREEK – Fourteen girls from Ukiah and Long Creek schools combined for a volleyball team this season, showing strength down the home stretch.

Reagan Enriquez, who has coached volleyball since 2008, said all but four girls are foreign exchange students.

This year’s squad competed as a junior varsity team.

The learning curve was steep as several of the girls had never played sports before.

“We weren’t certain how this season would unfold for the Ukiah/Long Creek team,” Enriquez said. “Every year we have trials and tribulations, and this year the whole team put in so much effort to practice and support each other.”

The team suffered losses until their final two games held Oct. 10 when they defeated Crane and Dayville/Monument’s junior varsity teams in close sets.

“It was inspiring to see the season progress to our final wins on Long Creek’s homecoming day,” the coach said. “I had chills through each set of both games.”

She said that as a coach she loves to see the team’s rapid progression and trust built between the players.

“Seeing the confidence build is the best part of coaching new girls every year – most of which have never played any sports before,” she said. “It just amazes me that these girls go from not being able to make a single playable pass, to setting up three hits, and scoring points, not just from the other team’s mistakes but by calculating where the ball should go and placing it there – I love it all.”

Seniors on this year’s team, Alejandra “Ale” Cabral of Mexico and Raquel Silva of Brazil, said they were happy with how the season ended.

Silva has played volleyball throughout her high school years, participating with a club team in Brazil.

She said she’s enjoyed traveling with the Mountaineer/Cougars this season.

“We won because we practiced a lot,” she said of the final two games. “Everybody was trying to win the games because of homecoming.”

This is Cabral’s first year playing volleyball, although she joined in practices last year with the team.

“I like how different it was from the first game to the last game, and how we all improved together,” Cabral said, adding, “I think we had a lot of energy and it was our homecoming game, so we pushed ourselves and kept a good attitude going. I’m glad I was able to play volleyball – it’s fun, and I love it.”