Summer means trips to the beach for plenty of people, and the Tigard volleyball program is no different.
Shortly after the end of the school year, the volleyball team held its summer beach program for three weeks, during which players could work on their skills while playing on sand courts at Cook Park.
“Beach is great for a lot of reasons,” said Tigard Head Coach Rainey Shriver. “You move a lot slower in the sand. It’s harder to jump because there is more holding you down. It can help players move quicker on their feet. A lot of people end up improving.”
The beach program was especially important this year, as Shriver is taking over as head coach of the program. It gave her a chance to see her new team up close and see how they work together.
Shriver came to Tigard from Lincoln High School, where she spent the last three years as the school’s assistant athletic director while also coaching in the school’s volleyball program. She served as a JV coach, JV2 coach, and assistant coach for the varsity team. Shriver also coaches club volleyball, and grew up in Central Oregon, graduating from Ridgeview High School in Redmond.
With Lincoln, Shriver saw Tigard twice last season, with the Tigers winning both matchups.
“What I remember from playing them was their effort,” she said. “You could see how hard they played, and how hard they played for each other. It felt like they really loved their teammates and were pushing each other to be the best they could.”
Shriver is confident that effort and passion will continue, especially since there is so much continuity on the coaching staff beyond herself, and with the roster.
“Having that group of coaches and players to ease the transition and know what’s important to them as players helped me know it was a good fit for me as coach,” she said. “When you interview, it’s about them finding out if it’s a good fit for them, but you also want to make sure it’s a good fit for you as a coach.
“Tigard was the one job I really wanted. The culture is so strong. Everyone supports everyone.”
Shriver saw that support from the players and their families as soon as she came on board as coach. She said the returning seniors let her know they’d like to do the summer beach season, so they made sure it happened.
A group of seniors – Hailey Gustafson, Addy Witt, Brooklynn Peer, Ainsley Snider, and Jacquelyn Godard – took home the summer beach season title. Shriver said they were all instrumental in getting the season set up, as well.
Shriver credited former Tigard Coach Jesse Abell for how involved the players are.
“He did a great job building the program and putting this kind of culture in place,” Shriver said.
Abell, who started the summer beach season eight years ago as an assistant coach, stepped down as coach but remains at the school as a teacher.
Shriver also said they had such a big turnout for beach season that they switched to quad teams to let more girls play.
While it’s still a couple of months from the start of the school year, Shriver anticipates a large turnout for the program’s summer programs and once the school year gets going. She said in July, they have open gym two days a week, and then there are positional camps and youth camps coming up. Then, once the school year starts, there are tryouts, and the season really kicks into gear.
“I’m very excited to see what we can do when we really put the work in at the gym,” she said
