Manatee's state success has been years in the making

BRADENTON -- The foundation of Manatee's 2014 state championship team was on the court together for the first time and soon there were tears. An 8-year-old Jacqui Armer was in the middle of the court with Haley Coulter, Gabby Coulter, JoJo Coulter, Grayson Hall and Gillian Cassidy scattered behind her for their first tournament.

The Janissaries fell behind early and never managed to score. It was a 25-0 loss in the first match they played together.

"We never were good when we were little," Armer said. "We were always bad. We cried at tournaments. Our team was never good."

Still, the foundation for a state champion was in place, brought together by former Hurricane head coach Ted Rigo, who now teaches social studies at Manatee. It was the first time the six played any sort of organized volleyball and although age and personal circumstances pulled them apart as they got older, when they reunited with the Canes last season and led Manatee to the best season in school history.

At 2 p.m. on Saturday, they'll try to reach a second straight Class 8A state championship match when they travel to Winter Springs in a state semifinal against the Bears.

Armer and Haley Coulter, now seniors, became the stars of the team and verbally committed to Louisiana State and Tulsa, respectively. Sophomore JoJo Coulter and Hall, a junior, round out the Canes' lineup of outside hitters. Sophomore Gabby Coulter and Cassidy, a senior, have combined to play every minute at setter this season.

Rigo's plan was simple. To find promising volleyball players, he searched for parents who either had a background in the sport or, in Armer's case, were just really tall.

They learned the fundamentals and played in tournaments where they were the youngest players by several years. The positions weren't

necessarily all the same -- Haley Coulter, Manatee's most productive outside hitter, was a setter at the time -- but getting chances to play against superior competition early set them up for their respective breakthroughs as they moved on to other clubs.

"We were younger than the youngest teams," Haley Coulter recalled. "We weren't like anything great, but eventually, learning the basic skills really helped develop us."

They eventually started to trickle out of the club and away to other teams. First were Cassidy, Armer and Haley Coulter -- the latter two remained teammates with Tampa Bay United. Then it was Hall, who was eventually joined by the other two Coulters with United, as well.

"We all left after we were 12," Hall said.

And when they all left they still didn't feel like they were good. Armer and Coulter remember their breakthrough coming when they were 14 and playing for Tampa Bay, just before they joined the Hurricanes as freshmen. The younger three also took off during their middle school years and it left the four older players awaiting the Coulter twins' arrival.

"We were really looking forward to it," Armer said. "We were excited about their freshman class."

When the Canes (25-4) take the court against Winter Springs (28-2) in the state semis, the Janissaries will be well-represented. The Coulters, Hall and Armer are five of Manatee's six starters and even if they're used to it now, it was a strange sensation during their 8A title run a year ago.

"We were like, 'Hey this is just like old times,'" Coulter said. "'Remember when we were 12 and we sucked at got yelled at all the time?'"

Now the former Janissaries are two wins away from a second straight state title. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes' rise from an afterthought into a state power has coincided with the group's complete arrival on campus.

And although half will move on after this season, Rigo will still be in the gymnasium on game nights next season to watch the powerhouse he indirectly had a hand in creating.

Said Armer: "We peaked at a good time, I guess."

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee's state success has been years in the making ."