The best leaders a coach could ask for
Picking captains this season for coach Arnold Ibias wasn’t difficult. Not when seniors like Mary Landes, Maxie Saceda-Hurt and Rachel Macaulay already act as extensions of the coaching staff.
Landes, Saceda-Hurt and Macaulay all entered the Thunder Mountain High School volleyball program at the same time Ibias took the helm. Over the last three seasons, the program has developed a winning culture by embracing all the responsibilities — big and small — that go along with one.
When something needs to get done, look no further than those three to make it happen.
“The C team sees them volunteering for stuff, and they’re like, ‘Oh, well, they’re doing it, so we should be doing it too,’” Ibias said. “When Thunder Mountain volleyball first started, we had no idea what we were doing. And now, we have a system, when its game day, there’s things that we do, and everybody knows: ‘The C Team does this, JV does this, varsity does this.’ It all started with those three.”
The addition of Emma Kaelke this year helped the team win their second consecutive J.I.V.E. tournament across town at Juneau-Douglas High School.
After defeating Petersburg in the J.I.V.E. final, four of the seniors took a group shot together with the simple wooden “1ST PLACE WINNER” plaque.
Parents snapped away on their iPhones before one of the seniors realized someone was missing: their coach. They called for Ibias from across the gym, and a worn but proud coach threw on a grin (the coach’s most natural facial expression when not coaching a game) and held up the plaque with his seniors for a few extra photos.
Later that night, Ibias took a photo of his own and posted it to the official “Thunder Mountain” Facebook page. It didn’t have any people in it. It was just the plaque with the words: “PROUD COACH OF THE Thunder Mountain volleyball team!!!”
A close-knit senior group
Earlier this season coach Dale Bontrager asked his varsity what makes them so adaptable as a team.
“They said it’s because they like each other,” Bontrager said. “Almost all of them have known each other since fourth grade, and they really get along and like each other and respect each other.”
Embedded within the JDHS senior class are strong bonds that volleyball has only strengthened over the years.
The program has won two of the last three Region V tournaments with these seniors aboard. Some didn’t even wait to become sophomores or juniors to join varsity, they were ready right away.
They’ve played against competition as far north as Barrow and west as Nome. They’ve shared Muktuk (frozen whale blubber), ferry food and plenty of laughter together.
“In 30-or-some years of doing this, this has been overall — the C team through varsity — one of the best groups that I’ve ever had the privilege to work with. The seniors are a big part of that,” Bontrager said. “They’re the role models, they set the tone for everybody.”
“Helaina, Sabrina and Elisa, in the early (JV) practice, do a great job. Sabrina has just been taking on task after task and did an amazing job of fundraising this year,” he added.
Leah Spargo, Abby Meiners and Cassie Dzinich can take over a game with their offense. Jessica Pierce can do the same with her defense.
Last year, the Crimson Bears were eliminated from the state tournament in just two games. But given how much fun they have playing volleyball, don’t be surprised if they go farther this year, that is, if TMHS doesn’t upset them in Region V tournament next weekend.
JDHS hosts Thunder Mountain on Friday night at 8 p.m. The Crimson Bears seniors will be recognized shortly before the start of the game.
Thunder Mountain hosts JDHS on Saturday night at 6 p.m. The Falcon seniors will be recognized shortly before the start of the game.
Thunder Mountain High School Seniors
Emma Kaelke
Plans for the future: Go into physical therapy
Favorite volleyball moment: When we won the JIVE tournament this year and Arnold jumped up really high and started yelling.
Mary Landes
Plans for the future: Attend Montana State University
Favorite volleyball moment: Last year, game point against Ketchikan, I set a back set and it went right into the bleachers.
Star Barger
Plans for the future: Go into pediatric nursing
Favorite volleyball moment: Going on the first Ketchikan trip and making new friends.
Maxie Saceda-Hurt
Plans for the future: Major in exercise science; become an athletic trainer or physical therapist
Favorite volleyball moment: We were down in Washington and it was the championship game and Marissa (Tanuvasa) is running around … and her shoe falls off. So I grab her shoe and I look at her, and I go, ‘What do I do with it?’ And she tells me to throw it off the court. So she’s running around the court with one black shoe and one white sock.
Rachel Macaulay
Plans for the future… Attend Western Washington University; study applied mathematics
Favorite volleyball moment: Losing to JD by two (sets) and then beating them two more games, keeping them under 15. So just putting more pressure into the game and making it more competitive.
Juneau-Douglas High School Seniors
Sabrina Jones
Plans for the future: Go into neuroscience
Favorite volleyball moment: It’s really not a specific moment, it’s more of the general teamwork and the pride that you put into the effort. So when something goes right in a game situation, or even something goes right with your teammates, you have a bonding moment — you have a moment to reflect on what you’ve done.
Elisa Fabrello
Plans for the future: Try construction for a year
Favorite volleyball moment: Doing “The Whip” (hip-hop dance move) in really random ways during a trash pickup with Helaina.
Helaina Willis
Plans for the future: Attend University of Alaska Southeast, spring travel to Japan
Favorite volleyball moment: It’s not really a special moment, it’s just getting to travel. Whenever I travel, it’s always the trip with my specific friends that I spend time with during volleyball. On the ferry, we just have a lot of fun together, like laughing, giggling … and then getting to play as friends is always something I really love.
Abby Meiners
Plans for the future: Study health sciences
Favorite volleyball moment… Last year at Regions, when we lost in the first round, and so we had to come back and play a full game and once we beat Thunder Mountain we had to play another game to 30. Coming through and doing all that felt pretty good.
Cassie Dzinich
Plans for the future: Study health sciences
Favorite volleyball moment… When I think about volleyball, basically I just think about my team, and I feel really lucky to have my team. I can’t pick one moment because I’ve had so many great moments. It makes me sentimental.
Jessica Pierce
Plans for the future: Study one of the sciences
Favorite volleyball moment… Traveling with the team to Nome and playing there really early in the season was really cool. And also to experience Nome.
Leah Spargo
Plans for the future: Earn a Masters in special education in Hawaii
Favorite volleyball moment: At the time it was really bad but our freshman year, during regions, it was the final “if” game, like whoever wins it is going to state. The score was like very close and Cassie and I both go in to serve at different points and we both miss our serves. Both of us are just freaking out, thinking, ‘Oh, the freshman just screwed it up, we are done.’ But we ended up winning so it was all good.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
Mary Landes
Maxie Saceda-Hurt
Rachel Macaulay
Sabrina Jones
Elisa Fabrello
Helaina Willis
Abby Meiners
Cassie Dzinich
Jessica Pierce
