Relationships can last a lifetime. Just ask Monica Dailey and CJ Roberts.
Dailey, the longtime head volleyball coach at Napavine High School, and Roberts – Lewis County folks would remember her as former Mossyrock standout Calli Hensch – were joined at the hip during club season.
One adventure they talked about embarking on was putting together a tournament in the area, which would be for high school teams throughout the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast in general.
“It is really special,” Roberts said.
Sunday marked the completion of year four of the PNW Summer Volleyball Classic and it was the best weekend to date with over 30 teams from various schools all together at The Hub in Centralia.
It capped a three-day event that opened with a recruiting seminar on Friday, moved into pool play on Saturday and ended with bracket play on Sunday.
“We are proud of what we put together,” Dailey said. “There's a skillset for all levels. We want it to be successful.”
The first year featured roughly a dozen teams, then it became a gradual uptick in schools over the next two summers. There could have been as many as 35 teams this year, but a couple had last-minute conflicts.
Still, it is not even close to the number of teams Roberts and Dailey can max out at.
“We can do 80,” Roberts stated. “A lot of coaches have shared with us that they choose us over Division I camps. They really love the atmosphere and that’s what we’re trying to create.”
Roberts, a former Chronicle all-area MVP in volleyball and three-sport athlete for the Vikings, played collegiately at Prairie View A&M and was an assistant coach at Northwestern State. She coached a top club team in Texas and is now living in Nebraska.
Word of mouth has been a key way to add more teams and bring teams back and while she doesn’t live in the area anymore, Roberts’ connections never left.
“We get to build the greatest relationships,” she said. “Some of them have known me since I was a player. They know us; it is like a homecoming (every year).”
Dailey admitted this year felt the most organized the group has been. It isn’t just her and Roberts, there’s a team of individuals that officiate, set up lodging for the overnight stayers and keep the schedule flowing.
The final game started just after 2:30 p.m.
“It felt like everything was clicking along,” Dailey said.
Four different divisions allowed for competitive play throughout. Division I was for varsity teams, Division II for lower level varsity/high level junior varsity teams, Division III for low level JV teams and Division IV for freshman, C teams and Napavine had a middle school team in that group.
In the DI gold bracket, Central Valley won in three sets over Sherwood and in the DII gold bracket, Black Hills defeated CCVC in straight sets.
The Wolves won both of their pool play matches and then defeated Davenport in two sets, upending Lynden Christian’s second team in three sets before beating CCVC to leave with a banner and championship t-shirts.
“We want to provide those opportunities to our players,” Black Hills head coach Kendra Dunn said. “It is a great opportunity for teams to come together in the summer, a little headstart to the season.”
It was a mix of players for the Wolves between varsity and junior varsity. They had eight players on Sunday and Dunn was pleased with her setters and overall communication.
Their summer has been primarily open gyms and practices. This weekend was their first competitive games, which Dunn believes can be a springboard when the fall season commences in just over a month.
“Just a chance for us to get some reps with our team,” Dunn said. “They did a great job. Even though it is a team that hasn’t played together much, they rose to the occasion.”
In the DII silver bracket, Mossyrock beat Napavine (Black) in straight sets, but it was a constant back and forth affair. Dailey coached that group and left with a feeling of potentially having some tough decisions come fall.
The Tigers have 27 players who have consistently been to open gyms.
“Very promising,” Dailey said. “I always tell them you have to re-earn your spot every year.”
Roberts feels this tournament can have teams from across the country and Dailey mentioned it be two weekends in the future to accommodate for schools with conflicts, like FFA.
The growth is undeniable, though.
“We want to grow it as big as it wants to grow,” Roberts said.
