Coach brings college experience to the field

By Sean Ammerman

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 | midnight

With Ric Grenell, Foothill may have one of the most experienced soccer coaches in Southern Nevada.

Grenell was formerly the women’s coach at Gonzaga and the College of Southern Nevada and is currently the director of the Southern Nevada Soccer Association.

When the opportunity was presented this summer to take over Foothill’s program, the coach couldn’t say no.

Grenell has instilled the same methods with the Falcons that he used on college players.

“This has been a great challenge,” Grenell said. “I am used to college players, whose motivation is different than that of a high school player. I think it was quite a shock to the team when they saw on the first day the amount of discipline I would require.”

Foothill (3-5, 2-4 Southeast Division) has not seen a drastic improvement in its record, but Grenell knows that’s not the only way to measure the program’s success.

He has instituted mandatory study sessions before practice, which he feels will be more beneficial than lessons learned on the field.

“I think some of them didn’t like it at first but they are starting to respond,” he said. “I have been enjoying it here. We have some great kids on the team.”

Foothill beat Basic 8-3 on Sept. 26.

Midfielder Christian Volesky had four goals in the win, while Drew Suites added another three goals.

Freshman setter helps Foothill volleyball

The day before Foothill’s girls volleyball faced Liberty on Sept. 24, Falcons coach Krysta Ortiz inserted freshman setter Christina Nash into the starting lineup for the first time.

The small change turned into a major adjustment as several players had to switch into new positions.

“They had to learn the new rotation pretty quick and they pulled it off,” Ortiz said.

Foothill (5-14, 2-2) won 3-2 and moved into a fourth-place tie with Coronado (8-13, 2-2) in the Southeast Division.

The Falcons have made major improvements from last year, but are still a way from taking over leaders Silverado and Green Valley High.

“Teams like Silverado and Green Valley are hard to catch up to, but that’s what they’re trying to do,” Ortiz said. “I believe we have the skills, but we need to work on communicating better and playing smart volleyball.”

Shardae Mazzeo had seven kills, three aces, and six digs against Liberty (2-5, 0-4), while Nash had 11 assists in her debut.

Sean Ammerman can be reached at 990-2661 or sean.ammerman@hbcpub.com.