Thanks to a deep team and an alum coach, Wilson High’s volleyball team is partying like it’s 1989

In 1989, we were introduced to the Nintendo GameBoy, saw the Berlin Wall fall and watched the movie “Batman.”

That same year, the Wilson Rams High School volleyball team won the league title. Since that time, things have changed.

We’ve gone from hand held video games to games you can play on your phone. The Berlin Wall is a landmark instead of a life-altering barrier and we’ve had more than our fair share of superhero movies.

But Wilson High had not won a league title since then. That changed this season under first-year coach Ann Hansen, who had graduated from Wilson in 2006.

Hansen has enjoyed the team’s success as much as her players. Upon graduating from Wilson, she played club volleyball at the University of Washington and coached different club teams in the area. Now teaching and coaching at her former school, she said this year has been special.

“How cool is it to come back to the high school you graduated from?” Hansen said. “Being back here, being in the same gym — I teach here, too. That’s why you go into these things. To be able to come back to your community and make a difference and it’s really cool to be apart of that. Super, super nostalgic.”

Hansen was a coach at Pierce County League rival Bonney Lake coach last season. She had seen the Rams up close and knew the potential this team had.

“At different moments, I would see greatness in all of them,” Hansen said. “One of the things we’d talked about once we had tryouts was building confidence. Building confidence in all of the kids and talking about some of the things we wanted to do during the season. It came from a place where I wanted them to know I trusted them, believed in them, knowing what they could do.”

What the Rams did during the 2018 season is make quick work of their opponents, Wilson (14-0 in league, 14-1 overall) went through the first four games of the season without giving up a set. For the entire 15-match season, the Rams shut out their opponents 10 times.

“After our second or third game we were playing so well as a team and everything just clicked together,” middle blocker Ella Dorsey said. “We were so close and connected and we just knew that we were doing something special.”

Unlike other teams, the Rams stat sheet is not dominated by one or two players. Hansen’s squad gets contributions up and down the roster, from senior leaders such as Ciarra Judson and Lauren Torres to young standouts like Indigo Hill and Shaleese Nuckols.

“I think it all just kind of happened that way,” outside hitter Caitlyn McCloud said. “We all bring something to the table. We all want to win so bad and we push ourselves and push each other and our stats reflect that.”

As the season rolled along, the Rams closed in on an elusive title. Their limits would be tested by Lakes on Oct. 18: A five-set limit to be exact.

Wilson had already beaten Lakes once, sweeping the Lancers 3-0 earlier in the season. This time, Lakes pushed the Rams to their first five-set match, but ultimately Wilson prevailed, 15-13, in the last game to claim the title.

“We just went back to the things we’d talked about early in the season, playing for each other,” Hansen said. “Maybe some of them got caught up in thinking about winning the championship and playing for the league title but during the timeouts I just reminded them to play for each other and everything else would take care of itself.”

It was a moment almost 30 years in the making. And the Rams would like to make some more.

Wilson opens district play on Nov. 3 and looks to qualify for the state playoffs for the first time since 1992. Hansen isn’t worried about history. She’s taking her team there to work.

“We’ve got to play consistent,” Hansen said. “Consistency with our serving, consistency with how we play and how we attack. Trying to build those things and continuing to play smart volleyball and not take just hard shots but take smart shots. Playing the toughest, smartest volleyball that you can.”

As she watched her team practice, barely cracking a sly smile as she got caught up in a moment of relflection, Hansen had just a few words to say.

“Ain’t it cool?”