Cardinals Will Start A New Era

After a year of trying to keep her head above water coaching a team she didn’t recruit, new North Idaho coach Carly Curtis has found solid ground with a team full of players she signed this summer.

“Last year, nothing was done the way I wanted it, so we have a have a whole new program and group of players this year,” Curtis said.

Curtis is in her first year as a head coach at any level after becoming a midseason replacement last fall for Mandy Nyrop, who left the team to spend more time with her dying husband. Curtis watched her team limp to the end of the season with a group of athletes that she felt was more concerned with their own agendas than the team’s.

“Last year, everyone was in it for themselves,” Curtis said. “When I recruited for this year, I tried to get a group of good athletes that didn’t have the attitudes like last year.”

With only two players asked to return, Curtis went looking for a whole new lineup and came back with a young and talented group.

All of Curtis’ high school recruits have become experienced players through regular-season and summer club play. That experience will be crucial to the success of the team that could start a whole new lineup.

“Although we don’t have much sophomore leadership, the team is full of experienced players, so we’ll be ready to go when the season opens,” Curtis said.

Lori Coover of Kalama, Wash., leads the crop of new talent. Coover will start at setter. She should get help on defense from middle blocker Anna King of Redmond, Wash.

Curtis said she’s pleased with her team’s play defensively and feels that the offense will come.

“Offense is easy to coach,” she said. “What really is exciting about this team is their defensive ability.”

Although she has never been a head coach, Curtis has a considerable amount of volleyball experience. After a stellar high school career at Coeur d’Alene, she went on to play two years at North Idaho under coach Brett Taylor.

“I really respect Brett Taylor and I learned a lot about coaching from him,” Curtis said.

Coming out of NIC, she was recruited, she said, by almost every school in the Big Sky Conference before deciding to play at Eastern Washington University. Because of the connections she made while she was being recruited, Curtis believes she has a leg up in recruiting and will be able to place a lot of her athletes at Division 1 schools in the area.

“Coach Curtis is a lot of fun to play for and she knows what she’s talking about through her own experience,” Coover said.

Although she will field a totally rebuilt team, Curtis has a positive outlook about the Cardinals’ chances of competing with perennial Scenic West Athletic Conference powers Ricks College and College of Southern Idaho.

“We need serious talent to rebuild the program, and this is a good group to start with,” Curtis said. “This should be a whole new beginning for Cardinal volleyball.”