The coaches may change at Centennial High, but the championship expectations remain the same for the three-time defending Class 3A state champions from Howard County.
Longtime junior varsity coach Larry Schofield takes over the program from Jerry Hulla, who is now an assistant at Towson University. Hulla stepped in last year after then-coach Mike Bossom became the head coach at Goucher College last year.
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Schofield, who also teaches math at Centennial, said the plan for him to become head coach began when Bossom left for Goucher and Hulla was named as Bossom?s replacement.
“We had a person with Jerry?s expertise at our disposal, so the thought was why not take advantage of it,” said Schofield, who was the JV coach for 12 seasons.
Schofield takes over the perennial state title contender after the Eagles graduated eight seniors, including five starters, from last year?s team that went 17-1.
Now, it will be up to a group of talented juniors who haven?t lost a junior varsity match in two seasons to lead the Eagles to their state-record 14th title.
That inexperience showed last week when Centennial, which plays at Atholton tonight, opened its season at Anne Arundel County power Broadneck. The Bruins jumped out to early leads in the first two games en route to a 25-11, 25-20, 26-24 victory. Schofield said he tried to stress to his players one loss at the beginning of the season does not define them as a team.
“We have the talent, we just need to learn how to play together on the varsity level,” said Schofield, who has coached nearly every player on junior varsity or with the Columbia Volleyball Club. “The winning tradition here doesn?t graduate with each class. It?s the job of the next class to build on the tradition of the previous one.”
Senior hitter Liana Farb, Centennial?s lone returning starter, said the team has made a smooth transition to each coaching change. However, the influx of new players has made it difficult for the team to play as a cohesive unit.
“Each coach teaches the same basic principles, so we?ve had an easy time with each coach,” Farb said, “We?re not going to let one loss get us down. We?re going to carry on the school?s volleyball tradition and we?ll be a tough team to beat in the playoffs.”
Junior setter Jackie Hawkins said playing Broadneck was difficult for the players competing in their first varsity match. But she was pleased to see how the team kept the match close by playing better each game.
“There were a lot of nerves against Broadneck,” Hawkins said. “There?s a big adjustment between JV and varsity, and it took some time for us to get in sync. But, we?re definitely going to get better.”
