Community School volleyball coach Reamy Goodwin has been waiting and waiting for the kind of talented senior class that could elevate the Cutthroats to the status of contenders in the always-tough 1A Northside Conference.
He might have it in 2007.
Sixth-year Cutthroat coach Goodwin has welcomed six seniors, all returning varsity players, to his 15-player squad. "Depth is a concern, but we haven't had these kind of seniors since I've been here," said Goodwin (25-65 in Sun Valley).
Goodwin, who posted a 127-29 coaching record and four district tourney titles during a remarkable run for Hailey's Wood River High School from 1995-98, has been extremely patient building the Cutthroat program to where it can play with the best in the area.
It has been a learning experience. For four seasons from 2002-05 the Cutthroats won a grand total of 17 matches and only beat the Bliss Bears in the state-qualifying Northside 1A Sub-District tournament.
That changed last fall when the current group of seniors came on strong, earned the fourth seed in the seven-team conference with a 5-7 regular-season record and beat #6-seeded Carey and #3-seeded Dietrich in the league tourney.
Leading the way were All-Northside first-team Amaya Ingram along with three honorable mention juniors, Caroline Fairchild, Shawnee Brew and setter Khrystyne Inman.
All are back in 2007 along with two other seniors, Ashley Bradley and Jen Tormey. The Cutthroats have decent height and a lot more experience.
Goodwin said, "What I wanted for us last year was to be competitive and win, or just to be competitive. And we were. We gained a lot of confidence and the belief that we could compete and win."
His 2006 Cutthroats just missed qualifying for the State 1A tournament in third place overall. The Northside was packed with outstanding seniors last season, topped by conference champion Richfield and Shoshone. And those seniors have graduated.
"We're not going to face a lot of heavy swings like last year," said Goodwin about the strong seniors like Richfield's Cassie Wood and Shoshone's Kori Bingham who have moved on.
"Richfield and Shoshone will still be strong but different. We'll be able to defend their firepower and the answers they can throw back at us," he said.
The coach added, "I'm definitely excited about the way the kids are playing. It's great for them to be competitive and in this situation this year."
Probably the biggest swinger in the Northside this fall will be Dietrich 5-11 junior Jesse Dill. The Cutthroats certainly remember Dill from their thrilling 12-25, 25-16, 25-18, 21-25, 15-12 tournament victory that eliminated the Blue Devils.
Sophomores who are returning include Jesse Bradley, Chloe Jory and Hailey Zanes. In addition Goodwin has a sophomore transfer student, Morgan Pintler, who is ready to step right into the libero defensive and passing position.
"Morgan is a great defensive player and has good ball control," said Goodwin.
Freshmen include Julie Doan, Courtlyn Jones, Zoey Olbum and Natalie Goddard. Goodwin's assistant coaches are former star Albertson College hitter Kristyn Price Rudland and Courtney Lloyd.
The Cutthroats played Tuesday night at Richfield and host Twin Falls Christian Academy Thursday, Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. in The Fish Tank, Sun Valley.
Sun Valley's last winning season (17-8) was in 2001 when the Cutthroats won their only Northside Conference tournament championship and captured two victories at the State 1A tournament for interim coach Mike McCann.
