Breanne Smedley | Coupeville Sports

Posts Tagged ‘Breanne Smedley’

Buddy up with a Wolf spiker!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged Breanne Smedley, CHS Wolves, Kacie Kiel, mentoring, volleyball on September 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Madeline Strasburg and her teammates want to help inspire the next generation of Wolf athletes. (John Fisken photo)

Kacie Kiel is looking for some new buddies.

The Coupeville High School senior and her teammates on the varsity volleyball squad will be hitting elementary school classrooms today to help launch the Wolf Buddies mentoring program.

The program, open to boys and girls in fourth and fifth grades, pairs up elementary school students with a varsity volleyball player for the season.

Players meet their buddies at lunch and/or recess on Wednesdays to connect and build relationships.

The Wolf Buddies also get free admission to high school volleyball matches, will sit in a designated section behind the bench, and participate in various pre-game activities with their volleyball player.

CHS coach Breanne Smedley is launching the program for several reasons. She sees a benefit for both the young students and her players.

“The goal of the program is two-fold,” she said. “First, we believe that elementary students can benefit socially, emotionally, and academically from having a positive role model meeting with them consistently on a one-on-one basis.

“Second, the program encourages high school athletes to accept the responsibility of being a role model in our community,” Smedley added. “The volleyball players will gain leadership skills and benefit from the accountability of having a buddy look up to them during their season.”

Parents of fourth and fifth grade students can email the coach at BreanneSmedley@coupeville.k12.wa.us for an application if their student did not get one from their classroom teacher.

Applications are due Friday, Sept. 12 and the first meeting with the buddies will be Wednesday, Sept. 17 during lunch.

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Spikers ready to blast into a new league!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged 1A Olympic League, Breanne Smedley, CHS Wolves, Hailey Hammer, Kacie Kiel, volleyball on August 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Senior outside hitter Madeline Strasburg is one of four returning letter winners. (John Fisken photos)

Junior McKenzie Bailey is part of a promising group of younger players making the jump to the varsity squad.

Junior McKenzie Bailey is part of a promising group of younger players likely to make the jump to the varsity squad.

New Wolf coach Breanne Smedley.

One day at a time.

That’s the mantra for first-year Coupeville High School volleyball coach Breanne Smedley, as she guides the Wolf program into a new age.

Having replaced former CHS player-turned-coach Kirsty Croghan, who had to step aside after a single season when her commute from La Conner proved to be too much, Smedley has inherited a roster full of breakout stars.

Now, the goal is to bring those players, and their teammates, together into a cohesive unit.

“I always ask my players at the end of practice, are you a better volleyball player and teammate now than when you started practice?,” Smedley said. “If they can honestly answer yes to that question then we will be successful this season.

“My goal is to finish at the top of our league but we will only get there if we are working to improve one day at a time.”

As Coupeville heads into a new league, having jumped from the 1A/2A Cascade Conference to the 1A Olympic League — a four-team set-up that includes Klahowya, Chimacum and Port Townsend — Smedley and her players want to take advantage.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to compete against schools of similar size to Coupeville,” Smedley said.

Four returning letter winners form the core of the Wolves, with senior outside hitters Kacie Kiel and Madeline Strasburg being joined by senior middle blocker Hailey Hammer and junior setter Sydney Autio.

Others expected to have a big impact include seniors McKayla Bailey and Monica Vidoni, junior McKenzie Bailey and sophomores Tiffany Briscoe and Valen Trujillo.

Regardless of which players end up playing where, or how the rotation shakes out, Smedley likes what she’s seen in her first official week of practice.

There’s always room for improvement, but the Wolves are putting in the hard work and sweat now that should hopefully translate into success come match time.

“There some growing pains associated with learning new systems and information, but they are doing a great job of working through those,” Smedley said. “This team is very hard working and they have the desire to learn and improve.”

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“I want to go out with a bang!!”

Posted in Volleyball, tagged 1A Olympic League, Breanne Smedley, CHS Wolves, Kacie Kiel, volleyball on August 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Kacie Kiel (right) teams up with Breeanna Messner last season. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

A small chapter of the Kacie Kiel Fan Club.

The irrepressible one herself.

No one lights up a room like Kacie Kiel.

The Coupeville High School senior (and yes, it’s sort of odd to think of her as a senior) plays both of her sports — volleyball and basketball — with wild abandon, skill and, always, great joy.

Even when she’s getting conked on the head by defenders, or finds herself under fire, she’s usually sporting a smile.

Quick to pick up her teammates with a word, a high five or a quiet hug while (briefly) sitting on the bench, she radiates energy wherever she goes.

Now, as she and her Wolf teammates prepare for the start of practice Monday, Kacie was kind enough to offer some insight into what’s going through her brain at the moment.

Her thoughts as the start of her final chapter of her high school sports career approaches:

Being a senior all I want to do is go out with a bang!

And with the new league coming our way, I am looking forward to showing other schools what Coupeville is made of!

With practice starting I am hoping that this year will be full of victories and lessons! Our new coach (Breanne Smedley) is making volleyball a blast already!

I’m hoping though to get the position I want, which is to become an outside hitter and use my strength there and with passing.

I also am dreaming to become a captain and take leadership to help this team become a dream team.

My one last dream for the season is to make it to state, and I know we’d have to work harder then we ever have before but anything is possible!

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Wolves welcome new volleyball guru!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged Breanne Smedley, CHS Wolves, volleyball, Western Washington University on July 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Three of last year's JV stars (l to r) Miranda Engle, Tiffany Briscoe and Valen Trujillo, hope to celebrate at the varsity level in '14. (John Fisken photos)

Three of last year’s JV stars, (l to r) Miranda Engle, Tiffany Briscoe and Valen Trujillo, hope to celebrate at the varsity level in 2014. (John Fisken photos)

Kacie Kiel (left) and Madeline Strasburg are two of the Wolves top returning players.

New Wolf coach Breanne Smedley, with husband Brett.

A strong work ethic, high expectations, and solid volleyball skills.

That’s what new Coupeville High School varsity volleyball coach Breanne Smedley would like to bring to the program.

A former college player herself, she knows the work required to be a top spiker, and sees great promise in her new players.

“I was interested in the CHS job because I see a lot of potential to create a strong volleyball program at Coupeville,” Smedley said. “Coupeville has a very supportive community and there are a great group of girls on the team with many of the pieces needed to be competitive in our league.

“It’s about putting those parts together to build a successful program.”

Smedley, who played four seasons at Western Washington University, finishing up in 2011, is replacing Kirsty Croghan, who left after one season when her daily commute from La Conner proved to be too much.

The wife of Wolf assistant football coach Brett Smedley, Breanne works as a Physical Education Specialist at Broad View Elementary.

While this is her first varsity high school head coaching position, she’s already accrued a fair amount of time on the bench.

She coached kids clinics and volleyball camps while playing for Western, then ran two seasons of club volleyball before joining the OHHS staff as an assistant in 2013.

Smedley got her first taste of running a program as head coach last season, when she led both the 7th and 8th grade squads at Oak Harbor Middle School.

Combining what she learned as a player with what she has picked up during her coaching days, she will look to highlight her new player’s strengths when deciding on a style of play for the Wolves.

“The systems that I will implement are designed to either utilize or expose our best passers, hitters, or blockers in any given situation,” Smedley said.

Aware that a strong program needs a firm base to build on, Smedley will be working with JV coach Amy King, as well as middle school and youth coaches, to build for the future.

“My goal for Coupeville volleyball is to build a cohesive program that develops and encourages athletes to better themselves on and off the volleyball court,” Smedley said. “This program will reach down to the elementary and middle school in order to develop unity as players grow through the Coupeville volleyball program.

“My goal is to cultivate an environment where players can develop the qualities of discipline, leadership, and dedication through the vehicle of volleyball,” she added. “My goal this season is to lay the foundation for a program of strong volleyball at Coupeville by getting the whole program on page with our philosophy and expectations, systems of play, and basic terminology.”

The Wolves are moving out of the 1A/2A Cascade Conference after almost a decade and will take up residence in the 1A Olympic League in the fall, providing Smedley and her team a chance to have a fresh start together.

“My goal is for Coupeville to be competitive and finish at the top of their new league,” Smedley said. “As the program develops, my goal is that the program will have a culture of strong work ethic, high expectations, and solid volleyball skills.”

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New season, new league, new coaches!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged Breanne Smedley, CHS Wolves, Kirsty Croghan, Toni Crebbin, volleyball on July 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Brett and Breanna Smedley.

Hailey Hammer (right), doin’ what she does — beatin’ the snot out of the volleyball. (John Fisken photo)

Sadi Foltz

The coaches change, but Hailey Hammer is a constant.

When Coupeville High School senior volleyball players like Hammer take the court this fall, they’ll be playing for their third coach in as many years.

Breanne Smedley, wife of Wolf assistant football coach Brett Smedley, has been hired to helm the program.

She replaces former CHS star Kirsty Croghan, who had to step down after one season because of the length of her daily commute.

Croghan, who works for the La Conner school district, had sought a similar job in Coupeville, but had been unable to secure one.

Croghan, who led the Wolves through their final season in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference, inherited the job from her high school coach, Toni Crebbin, when Crebbin brought a 20-year coaching career to an end to spend time with her young daughters.

As she leads CHS into the 1A Olympic League, Smedley will be joined on the sideline by Amy King, who will return for her second season as the JV coach.

Coupeville also added another coach at the middle school level, hiring Sadi Foltz to replace Allison Cowan.

Cowan stepped down after one season as the 7th grade coach when her husband was transferred by the Navy.

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