Capital hits the road, looking for a second state 3A volleyball title in three years
A year from now, Maia Nichols will be playing volleyball on sand, nearly 1,400 miles from Capital High School’s campus. Olivia Huff will still be playing on hardwood, less than four miles from Capital.
Friday morning, though, Nichols, Huff and their Cougar teammates will be playing somewhere in between, 187 miles from home at the Yakima Valley SunDome, hoping a win over Interlake (12-9) at 9:45 a.m. will be the first step to their second state 3A championship in three seasons.
Kennewick or Lakeside will be their next opponent, win or lose.
Capital finished third in 2018 and is no longer anything remotely resembling Cinderella when it comes to state. Fourth-year head coach Katie Turcotte has taken the Cougars to at least a fourth-place finish each year. Capital has failed to reach state only once since 2008 and has a 14-5 record in matches during its last five state appearances.
Nichols went from being a talented, if somewhat isolated by her age, freshman on the 2016 team that finished fourth to one of the best players in Washington and a role model on this season’s team.
“Each year is going to be extremely different,” the 5-foot-8 outside hitter said. “We lost a lot of seniors the year we won state. We try to keep rebuilding every year. We try to fill in all the puzzle pieces.”
Though she was the coaches’ association state player of the year as a sophomore, Nichols is enjoying her final season before joining the beach volleyball squad at Arizona State University since the emphasis is on her peer group of seniors and juniors. Her sister Madison is among the juniors.
“I’ve got my friends with me on this team. When I was a freshman and sophomore, I didn’t have anybody my age on the team. I was playing with all juniors and seniors,” she said. “Getting to play with the girls in my grade and being the oldest on the team has been really cool.
“It makes me feel like I need to step up as a leader and do my part to show everyone in the program what it means to be on Capital’s volleyball team.”
While Nichols leads the Cougars with 712 kills, Huff has been tops in blocks with 68. She followed a different path to becoming a mainstay of a state-bound team with a future as a player at The Evergreen State College ahead of her, going from C team as a freshman to JV as a sophomore and a junior swing player in last season’s state run.
“Our coaches have done a great job,” she said. “I also like how together this team is.
It’s mainly juniors and seniors; it’s a close-knit group.”
Turcotte, who has not only coached the Cougars to four straight appearances but played for a Capital team that finished as runner-up to Selah in the 1994 tournament, likes the edge experience can bring.
“The majority of our girls have been there before, so they know what it’s like,” she said. “It’s always exciting and a little bit overwhelming for the girls who have not been. The girls that have been before can alleviate some of the anxiety for those who haven’t.”
Capital has more veterans than newcomers.
Madison Nichols leads the Cougars in hitting percentage with a .368 mark. Junior Devyn Oestreich has 524 kills. Defensively, Oestreich and the two Nichols sisters are the leaders in digs, with junior Alexis McNeil also averaging seven per match.
The setting job has been split between senior Maddie Matthews, who has recorded 395 assists, and junior Emma Haws with 240.
Capital has had consistent serving with an 88.7 team percentage. Nearly every key player is right around that number individually.
The Cougars are 16-1 heading into state but suffered a few of the bumps and bruises any team does. After losing just one set through the first 13 matches of their 3A South Sound Conference championship season, Capital lost its chance at an undefeated campaign when Central Kitsap knocked them off, 3-1, on the final night.
“We’ve had to show some perseverance through some different obstacles that we’ve faced,” said Turcotte. “The girls have always pulled through and stayed together. They always bring that fun and laughter and friendship and love that surrounds this team. They always find their way back to that.”
Turcotte says her team has a chance to win this weekend’s tournament, but she and Nichols agree that the goal isn’t focused on what size trophy the Cougars get to bring home, but how they go about acquiring it.
“We obviously want to get first, but as long as we play to our full potential that’s as much as we can ask of each other,” Nichols said.
“I want any and all of my girls to have success and achieve the highest possible level that we can. For the seniors to go out playing really good volleyball regardless of how we finish is 100 percent the goal,” Turcotte added.
Huff doesn’t doubt that will happen.
“When we play well,” she said, “It’s going to end our season with a gold star.”