Lindsey Davies, middle blocker for West Valley College in
Saratoga, can be part of history.
Lindsey Davies, middle blocker for West Valley College in Saratoga, can be part of history.
No junior college team from Northern California has ever won the state championship in volleyball, which dates back to 1977. The Vikings (22-1) take the No. 1 seed in Northern California to Delta College in Stockton this weekend when the state tourney takes place. The top Southern Cal seed is Moorpark College (21-1) in Ventura, while the No. 3 seed in SoCal – Golden West (16-5) – certainly can’t be taken lightly for it has won the state title the past nine years. The Vikings open up the double-elimination tournament this Friday vs. SoCal No. 4 seed Orange Coast (19-3) at 8 p.m.
Davies, who graduated from Hollister High last June, is playing to win it all.
“The girls all want to win,” said the 5-foot-9 Davies. “We’re going to go there to try to win it.”
Davies has had a banner season individually and was rewarded with a First Team All-Coast Conference berth. She was named MVP of the Merced Tournament earlier this year and had a season hitting percentage of .350, well over the norm for a middle blocker. For the season, she’s had 49 solo blocks and is averaging .6 blocks per game.
“That was one of my goals, making all-league,” said Davies. “I was stressing early in the season when my rotator cuff in my shoulder was hurting for a couple of weeks. It was cool when I made it. So was getting MVP in the Merced Tournament.”
Davies, who made First Team All-Monterey Bay League as a senior, Second Team All-MBL as a junior, had to catch the eye of Vikings coach Jason Dupler to make the WVC connection. Dupler doubles as the Vision 18-Blue club coach, which Davies tried out for a year ago November.
“We were looking for another middle blocker, who was athletic,” said Dupler. “Then we saw Lindsey get on top of a set and hit the ball as hard as we have we had seen. We said, ‘Whoa! Who was that?’ We didn’t know anything about her until then. I immediately went over and offered a spot on the team.”
The Davies family consulted with Dupler about college options.
“They came to me about Lindsey possibly coming to West Valley,” said Dupler. “I felt she would be a great addition and she was.”
The question was where to put Davies, who is not necessarily tall for a middle. Originally, Davies was at right side, while 5-10 Denise Cooper, who played at Live Oak, was at middle blocker.
“Lindsey didn’t look comfortable at all at right side,” said Dupler. “She had never played there before. It was tough for Lindsey at the beginning.”
Then, the pivotal position switch was made, moving Davies to middle blocker and Cooper to right side.
“Once we made the change, our offense immediately began to click,” said Dupler. “We took off. Lindsey was great at middle and Denise was great at right side.”
“I felt at home at middle,” said Davies. “I was more comfortable there.”
Davies has improved immensely since she started club volleyball with Dupler’s Vision and the improvement has continued on with the Vikes.
“She’s become more efficient at moving laterally,” said Dupler of Davies. “To be a good middle blocker, you have to move laterally from left to right and back again. Lindsey had such good timing and she’s a quick jumper off the floor. Opposing middles don’t expect someone like Lindsey to get up there, but she does.”
In the championship match of the Delta Tournament, Davies stuffed a player from Delta who was 6-2 1/2 for match point.
“Delta wins there tournament every year,” said Dupler. “That’s one play I’ll remember.”
Davies success this season is not surprising to her former Baler coach, Larry Nabzeska. The degree of rapidity of her success is, however.
“I knew she had potential early in high school, that’s why I brought her up to varsity as a sophomore,” said Nabzeska. “She wasn’t happy because she sat a lot, but I was trying to bring her along slowly. She’s a powerful player and a smart player. A great thinker. She’s made such a big step this year. I’m surprised at that because it’s so fast. I knew she was capable of it. I’m proud of her.”
“I’m so glad I went to West Valley College,” said Davies. “The coaches are great and the girls are so much fun. We all hang out together off the court and support each other.”
Still, her biggest fan is her father, Bob Davies.
“I owe everything to him,” said Lindsey. “He goes to all of my matches. He’s always there for me.”
“For her to say that about me is special,” said Bob. “She’s always loved sports and we felt we should support her in whatever she does.”
And Lindsey and her teammates hear support from the parents during matches, as well as, about 10 West Valley football players, who come to every match. Whenever a Vikes player goes up for a kill, the group of footballers yell, ‘Boom!’ right before the swing is made.
“We call them The Boom Club,” said Bob. “I don’t think the boys know we call them that, yet.”
Should Lindsey and her Vikings return home with the first state volleyball championship for a Northern California junior college team, they can expect a booming reception.
For they’ll be the big boppers on campus.
