The last time the Santa Ynez girls’ volleyball team lost a game in the Los Padres League, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was on trial, Kelly Clarkson topped the Billboard charts, and nobody on the block had an Xbox360 yet.
Yes, you’d have to go back to Nov. 1, 2005, to find the Pirates coming up on the short end of the stick in a league match, a 3-1 loss against Nipomo. It was the tail end of the first year back for longtime head coach Chip Fenenga, who took over the team that season after a brief hiatus. Forty-six games later, the streak continues.
“We’ve had some really talented kids,” Fenenga said. “People buy into a system, and they work hard and work well in their roles. There’s no magic to it … it’s simply that you have to have desire, you have to put the we before the me, and the kids have to buy into that. If you have some talented, tall kids, and some coaching that can make use of that, you should be successful.”
Fenenga must have more than just Lady Luck on his side, because his boys’ team has won 19 consecutive Los Padres League titles. His girls have kept up in recent years, winning the last six straight league championships.
“If we didn’t win league those years, it would have been a real story,” Fenenga said. “We had some Division-I kids that played here and sat here, and that’s a luxury.”
In 2011, with a young team and some of their stiffest competition returning top players, Fenenga said he expects a tougher battle for the top of the Los Padres League standings than in years past.
“We never take anything for granted,” he said. “A lot of it depends on how healthy you stay as a team. I use the quote a lot that ‘your focus will determine your reality,’ and that’s not just in terms of pay on the serve, but it’s also in terms of practice.”
A trio of talented seniors forms the Pirates’ core group, and each has already drawn interest from colleges.
Danielle Carlson, last year’s Los Padres League co-MVP and the CIF’s top hitter in terms of kill percentage, returns to anchor the team. A 5-foot-10-inch outside hitter with a vicious spike, Carlson said there’s more pressure on the Pirates to keep their run going in her senior year.
“It makes me that much more competitive and more driven to continue winning,” Carlson said. “I don’t want to lose this last little stretch.”
Last November in the CIF playoffs, Santa Ynez topped Kennedy of La Palma before losing in the second round to Rio Honda Prep of Arcadia three games to two. Improving on that finish will take staying strong as a team, fighting through challenges, and playing every game like it’s their last, Carlson said.
Like Carlson, fellow senior and co-captain Annika Bastanchury, a 6-foot-tall opposite hitter, has never known what it’s like to lose a league match. She said the streak has been empowering to her and the rest of her teammates.
“It’s good to know that we’re that strong of a team and that we can come together when we need to and fight to get the win,” she said. “It feels good.”
Though Bastanchury cautioned there’s a long season ahead, by playing as hard as they can every game, she believes the Pirates have a good shot at meeting, and even exceeding, their lofty expectations.
“I’m really proud of how far we’ve come, and I think we’re going to be a really strong team,” she said. “We all love each other, and I know it sounds cliché, but we’re really like a family. It’ll be fun.”
Senior Delanee Stapp, a setter, echoed Bastanchury’s comments, adding that she’s heading into this season more driven than ever.
“Everyone has her own strengths and abilities, and if we can really pull them together and play as a unit, which we’ve been working on, we’ll be really good,” Stapp said. “If we just stay together and keep strong and support each other, it will be a good season.”
The start to the Pirates’ regular season schedule came amid a cloud of controversy. Last year’s assistant volleyball coach and former player on the Santa Ynez boys’ team, Ryan Makowski, was arrested on Aug. 23 on suspicion of eight felony counts of sex with a minor female he allegedly met while he was coaching. Fenenga said although the news was unfortunate, it hasn’t been a distraction to his team.
“He went through the accreditation process—fingerprints, background checks, all that stuff,” Fenenga said. “It’s upsetting and disappointing, but it doesn’t really affect the team at all.”
Even so, the Pirates got off to a slow start in their season opener on Sept. 1, a non-league contest against Arroyo Grande. The Eagles swept the Pirates 3-0, behind a bevy of aces. Carlson finished the match with 10 kills, Bastanchury had nine, and Stapp served three aces.
Ferenga took issue with his team’s unforced errors, but expected the girls to clean it up in time for their first league match against Cabrillo High on Sept. 15.
“We have to push ourselves, and if we push ourselves and control what we can control, hopefully we’ll play good volleyball,” Fenenga said. “That’s really all you can do.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas does what he can. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 8-15, 2011.