COBRE IS NOT YOUR “TRADITIONAL” VOLLEYBALL SQUAD
The Cobre High School volleyball team isn’t your typical squad. “We’re not traditional,” said head coach Julie Gutierrez. “Our tallest girl is maybe 5’7” on a good day. We’re very scrappy and non-traditional.”
“These girls have no quit in them, they grind out, they practice really hard,” said their head coach. “We’re in the weightroom constantly. They’re working on their vertical to overcome some of the height issues we have.”
“I feel like we’re very versatile,” said sophomore Hayley Gutierrez. “Everyone is contributing and we have great chemistry. The pieces are finally fitting.”
One of those pieces is sophomore Hayley Gutierrez, one of the top hitters in Class 3A. “Very scrappy, very unpredictable. She can present one way and and swing the other way,” said her coach and mom. “She’s very powerful, just not very tall. A lot of teams underestimate us, last year we were underestimated a lot.”
“I’m scrappy, I want the ball,” said Hayley. “When I do get the ball, I don’t take it for granted.”
Cobre reached the state final last season for the very first time, losing to two-time state champ St. Michael’s. Cobre got a taste of the title game, now they want more. “I think they have more confidence, they are starting to believe in themselves more, but we are a different team than we were last year” said the head coach. “In my personal opinion, I think we’re better.”
“We say, ‘We’re going to get there again, but this time win it’, and not come home second place,” said junior Isis Dominguez.
“The first two years it was just to get to state, now we want to win it,” Julie said. “Last year, they got a taste of what that was like and we didn’t like coming home second.”
“It’s an amazing achievement to make it to the state championship, but this year we want to win it,” said Hayley.
As the season continues, they have a checklist of goals this year. “We want to be the best serving team and our defense to be really strong, and come home state champs,” Isis added.
