Published: Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2009

Updated: Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2009

Volleyball notebook: Season of learning for Manatee

Manatee High’s volleyball team is ready for a rebuilding season.

But that doesn’t mean the Hurricanes don’t have their goals.

They want to win another county championship. They want to return to a midseason tournament at The Academy of Holy Names in Tampa and retain their title.

Their main goal, however, is to get better.

“We’ll take it one day at a time,” said coach Jessica Hinkle.

Courtney McDonald, now at Auburn, and Taylor Mealy have graduated. The two were the main cogs of a core that carried the Canes to four consecutive Class 5A regional tournaments and three county crowns since 2005.

This season, Hinkle is taking a different approach, one where she is teaching the game to some of the young players on her roster.

Manatee jumped right in, opening with Venice last week. The Indians rolled to a sweep.

They rebounded two nights later by beating county rival Bayshore.

“It’s hard to open with Venice,” said Hinkle, whose Canes host Riverview on Wednesday. “But (the Canes) did well.”

Paige Pierro, Taylor Jones and Shelby Knox are the seniors, and Hinkle is hoping the three can help carry Manatee to another county title.

Manatee hosts the tournament this year, to be played Friday and Saturday. Friday’s action will take place at Bayshore.

“It’s a rebuilding year for us, hands down,” Hinkle said. “I think we have to take a more work-in-progess approach.”

High hopes for BCS

When talking about his Bradenton Christian Panthers, Greg Geraldson doesn’t mince words.

“We think we can go to the final four again,” BCS’ head coach said.

The Panthers may have lost Sarah Geraldson, last year’s All-Area Player of the Year, from a team that reached the Class 1A state final four for the second time in three years.

But Greg Geraldson, Sarah’s dad, believes the Panthers have the ingredients to get back there again.

Maria DeKuiper, a 6-foot junior, is the team’s best attacker, Greg said, while sophomores Abi Van Ostenbridge and Zhynna Ratner, and senior Kelly Moss, add to the Panthers’ offense.

“We’re probably more balanced,” Greg said, “attack-wise, than last year.”

The Panthers are in a new district this season, so Greg Geraldson acknowledges he doesn’t know BCS’ district foes as well this year as he has in the past.

BCS is 8-1 following its win Tuesday over Citrus Park Christian.

Experienced Thunder excite coach

Julio Cruz wants Out-of-Door Academy to shine in the postseason.

And he thinks he has the experienced team to do it.

“My mission is districts,” said Cruz, in his first year as ODA’s head coach. “I’ll be happy with (winning) districts. And they can do it. I have the team to do it.”

Fronting the Thunder are seniors Jonna Marchese, Colleen McGrath, Hilary Hawkins and Alana Rogers. Marchese played a pivotal role on the ‘07 team, which won a district title and reached the regional finals.

Last year, ODA was ousted in the first round, which is why Cruz’s hopes are pinned to a long postseason run.

Cruz was an assistant at ODA toward the end of last year, and also coached with the Suncoast Volleyball Club.

He moved to Florida from Texas more than two years ago.