If you can’t handle the truth, then you probably couldn’t handle being part of the Wasilla High volleyball team.
Coach Katie Oxspring keeps it real with her players, who are encouraged to speak their mind, even if it meant challenging her to push them harder than last season when the Warriors won the Class 4A state title.
“I was slacking as a coach,” Oxspring said.
Message received. The intensity at practice picked up as the Warriors got down to business and sharpened their edges in preparation for another title.
“They felt comfortable enough to ask me to give them more. It was the best,” Oxspring said. “It has made me a better coach.”
On Oxspring’s watch, Wasilla has been the No. 1 team in the state over the last two years as the Warriors have won 109 of 116 sets and been victorious in 40 straight best-of-5 matches.
Last week, Wasilla went on the road and beat perennial power Dimond in four sets in a matchup between the two top teams in the state.
The team’s success can be traced back to practice, Oxspring said, where the team mimics high-pressure situations of a match to help players fall back on their training when it happens for real.
“To be competitive, I think, is a natural instinct. But to know how to handle pressure is learned,” she said.
The players have bought into honesty, which works both ways. Hard truths are tough for some high school kids to hear, but Wasilla has a veteran group with seven seniors and that leadership has set the tone at team meetings when the truth comes out.
“This team is very close,” Oxspring said. “At Wasilla, culture is very important. But what has made it so successful is the kids buying into that culture. I am so fortunate that I have kids who are choosing character and being good teammates over any selfish desires they may have.”
Among the Wasilla seniors are three all-state tournament picks from a year ago in Allison Devine, Mylee Anderson and Layla Hays.
Devine is a 5-foot-11 outside hitter who leads the team with 4.1 kills per set. She’s known for power and positivity. “She works so hard to keep our kids focused,” Oxspring said.
Anderson is a 5-foot-9 setter who has racked up 700 assists this year. She runs the show like a point guard – the same position she plays for the WHS girls basketball team.
“She makes it look easy and works so hard,” Oxspring said, “and she’s there for everyone. She goes to the person who makes the error and takes the burden.”
Hays is a 6-foot-5 outside hitter who is the go-to spiker when the Warriors need a point. She averages 3.1 kills per set on a .480 attack percentage. “When she scores, it boosts everyone’s mood,” her coach said.
Hays is a nationally ranked basketball player headed to the University of Iowa. She’s a killer on the hoops court but lacked a killer instinct in volleyball – until now.
“Layla has come so far in her mental game over the last few years and it has been great to see her get tough in that area,” Oxspring said.
In addition to the Big 3, other Wasilla seniors include Kenadee Shelton, Violet Schachle, Kaitlyn Zweifel and Hayden Caldera. Together, this senior class has arguably been the most successful in school history. It’s a source of pride for the coaches and players, not an obsession.
“We do not preach winning in our program. In fact, I can find myself almost doing the opposite,” Oxspring said. “To preach winning would only be focused on an outcome, and we are focused on the process. Usually, by us focusing on the process and preparing properly, the wins happen on their own.”