tough calls for all-Inland Valley volleyball

The all-Inland Valley volleyball came out on Christmas Eve, and as usual, there were some tough decisions to be made.

The truth is, the player of the year consideration came down to just two players: Los Osos’ Tara Roenicke, who won, and Upland’s Kylie McLogan. Either would’ve been worthy winners.

I feel good about Upland Christian’s Doug Porterfield earning Coach of the Year honors, especially after what he and his team went through to get to the semifinals.  But it seemed that everywhere you turned, there was a coach deserving of consideration. And that bodes well for the future of Inland Valley volleyball.

Here are some other worthy candidates, in no particular order:

John McGaha, Ganesha — Has steadily turned around a struggling program that is far from a traditiional power, earning a share of the Valle Vista League title and a spot in the CIF-SS quarterfinals.

Jack Coberly, Vivian Webb — No one really thought much about Vivian Webb volleyball until Coberly, father of former Bonita coach Morgan Coberly, took over this year and got the Gauls all the way to the quarterfinals after playing in a wild-card match.

Chelsea Veldman, Ontario — It had been a long time since Ontario won a league title and now Veldman’s led the Jaguars to back-to-back crowns.

Scott Robertson, Upland — With a senior-dominated team, Upland was supposed to be good yet again in 2008. The Highlanders stumbled in the first round against Los Osos for their first league loss in seven years, but still kept its decade-long streak of winning the Baseline League when they could’ve folded.

Becky Bevans, Diamond Bar — Bevans has been at Diamond Bar for a long time, but the Brahmas have generally been only an afterthought for the Sierra League title, behind teams with more recent success like Ayala, St. Lucy’s and Glendora. Yet it was a pregnant Bevans who led the Brahmas to a share of the league title with St. Lucy’s.