Winning isn’t everything in the Hartman household, but it sure doesn’t hurt.
Home life has been downright harmonious lately for St. Joseph girls’ volleyball coach Tammy Hartman, with her squad capping off another successful season, and husband Mike leading the Knights’ football team to the top of the league standings.
“When we’re not winning, nobody’s happy,” Hartman said. “He hasn’t lost yet, so I’m the one that’s been the bearer of bad news. I’m super-competitive, so he has to deal with me.”
In her 19th year as head coach at St. Joe’s, Hartman has had little bad news to report. She succeeded in taking the Lady Knights, comprised of just four seniors, to an 8-4 league record in 2009 and a berth in the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs.
Their regular season was good enough for a second-place tie behind perennial league champ Santa Ynez, and Hartman said she’s fine with that, as long as she’s helping her players become better people.
“We’re always the bridesmaid and never the bride,” Hartman said. “Winning is great, but at all costs I’m not willing to do it. For a school our size to be second all the time is pretty darn good.”
After a tiebreaking snafu between St. Joseph and Morro Bay was finally sorted out, the Knights entered the CIF postseason ranked third. As of press time, the team was preparing to face Olympic League second-place finisher Brentwood of Los Angeles on the road in the first round, a game they would have to play without their “big anchor,” middle blocker Analise Riezebos.
The spiking specialist, who was also forced to sit out last season’s playoffs with a knee injury, won’t be available because she’s taking part in a senior retreat. Still, she hopes the Knights can match last year’s second-round appearance so she can play in at least one more CIF match.
“It’s really sad because I love my volleyball team a lot,” Riezebos said of missing the game. “CIF is a big deal, so I’m disappointed that I’m not going to help them out.”
Riezebos was named the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Roundtable Athlete of the Week on Nov. 2. Not one to hog the limelight, she credited sophomore setter Delaney Puhek as a significant reason for her success.
“It was really nice to win [the award],” Riezebos said, “but Delaney gets the ball to me really well, and that’s why I’m able to hit it.”
While the Knights were able to fashion an eight-game winning streak during the regular season, Riezebos said they could have done better.
And though the team had its ups and downs, senior captain and outside hitter Natasha Kolbo said she’s watched them get progressively better and is looking forward to the adrenaline rush that comes with a CIF run.
“I hope we play as a team, as a unit, and that we’re all on our game together, “ Kolbo said. “I hope we’re loud and play to the best of our abilities—and win.”
One of five returners from last year’s team, Kolbo said the Knights wouldn’t be phased by the absence of their most decorated player.
“With all the people on our team, just because we’re missing one player, we’re good enough to come back and play as well as we would even if she was there,” Kolbo said. “It’s not that detrimental to us. We adapt well, and we’re all good enough to be first-rate players.”
A young squad, the Knights had first-year varsity players at two key positions: setter and libero.
Freshman libero Shannan Swain said she’s enjoyed being part of the team’s success and is looking forward to participating in her first CIF.
“I’m kind of nervous, but I’m really excited,” she said. “It’s something I’ve never done before. It should be a good experience, no matter how far we make it.”
The Lady Knights aren’t changing anything about their routine for the playoffs, according to the coach.
“Every team is good that makes CIF,” Hartman said. “It comes down to whichever team makes the fewest errors. For every error you make, the other team gets a point. There’s no other sport like that.”
This year’s playoffs mark the end of the road for St. Joe’s in the Los Padres League. Next year, the team will move into the “big time,” as Hartman calls it: the Pac-7 league.
Having to travel farther to schools with strong volleyball programs—like Arroyo Grande, Paso Robles, and Atascadero—will pose a test for the small private school.
“We’re going to be up for the challenge,” Hartman said. “The group of kids that I have that will be seniors will be fighters. Every game is going to be tough, but we look forward to it.”
Whichever way the CIF playoffs end for St. Joseph, the Hartmans will undoubtedly get back to some sense of normalcy—at least for a while.
“We get the winter to recover,” Hartman said. “If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t do it.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas would love to recover this winter. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 12-19, 2009.