By Grant Clark
North Thurston High School’s volleyball team has a tradition where each senior selects an incoming freshman to be their “little sister” at the start of every season.
For the duration of the year it is the veteran’s responsibility to look after the rookie, placing them under their wing while providing insight and guidance into both the program and the school.
Julia Wabinga had her choice of the lot. For her, however, the selection was rather easy and she chose Elizabeth Colon.
“I remember there was a lot of good things flying around about (Elizabeth),” said Wabinga, a 2012 North Thurston graduate. “I think it was my sophomore year when I first heard people talking about her. When she came in (as a freshman) my senior year, she pretty much already had a spot on the team.”
Four years later, their friendship has strengthen considerably, but their roles haven’t changed that much.
Wabinga, an outside hitter, is entering her senior season as a member of Saint Martin’s University’s volleyball team, while Colon begins her freshman campaign with the Saints.
“I’ve pretty much been following her around,” joked Colon, a defensive specialist/libero who is coming off a high school career as a two-time all-league selection and a scholar athlete all four years. “Before I decided on Saint Martin’s, Julia was the one I turned to when I had questions about the school, mostly about dorms and the academic side of things. She’s always been willing to help me.”
Wabinga and Colon are together again, with the common goal of turning around SMU’s record on the court. The Saints are coming off a 2014 season where they finished 4-26, including a 1-17 mark in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
“The girls have been training hard all summer,” Wabinga said. “You could see in today’s testing how far we’ve improved from just three weeks ago when he had a camp. You can see a fire in everyone’s eyes. That hasn’t always been there before.”
SMU will host a scrimmage at Marcus Pavilion on August 26 against Pacific Lutheran University before holding an exhibition in Lacey on August 28 against visiting Warner Pacific College.
The squad begins the season in Hawaii where they will compete in the Honolulu Invitational on September 4 and 5, while the GNAC portion of their slate kicks off on September 17 in Bellingham against Western Washington University.
Wabinga, an all-state recipient during her senior season of high school in 2012, and middle blocker Kyra Davidson are the only seniors on SMU’s roster.
“I feel a lot has been placed on our shoulders,” Wabinga said about the increased roles she and Davidson will play this upcoming year. “When I got here my first year I was one of nine freshmen. Now we are down to two. Obviously, if that says anything, it shows we’ve had a lot of hardships. We’ve been through all these obstacles. But because of everything we’ve had to overcome, it’s just going to make this season that much more amazing. I’m not saying we are going to go out and get first place. We’re just going to do the best we can and our best will be amazing.”
Colon is one of nine freshman, along with Olympia grad Jona Spiller, entering the program, which welcomes head coach Kara Peterson back for her third season.
Colon actually got her first taste of high school volleyball when she was in eighth grade when serving as a manager for North Thurston. She would go on to help the Rams finish second at the Class 3A state tournament in 2013, but it was during her first year with the program that she gained a better understanding of Wabinga’s importance to the team.
“I’d step in whenever they needed a spot to be filled,” said Colon, who was also a member of the South Sound Ohana Volleyball Club with Wabinga. “There was a game they’d play at practice and Julia had the top spot. One day she was gone and I had to step in for her. I had all this pressure to keep her spot at the top and I did it. It felt so good. I thought, ‘She’s going to be so proud of me.’ She was the top dog and I had to fill her shoes for a day.”
The following year, during Wabinga and Colon’s lone high school season together in 2011, the Rams advanced to postseason play before being knocked out by Black Hills, a team coached by Peterson.
“Unfortunately, things didn’t end the way we wanted them to,” Wabinga said. “Coach Kara always brings that up.”
As Wabinga enters her final season of college volleyball and Colon begins her first, things already have a different feel around the program than previous years, according to Wabinga, both in the amount of off-season work the team has put in as well as the closeness of the squad.
“It’s easier to do when you have that chemistry,” Wabinga said. “Togetherness is the biggest part with this group.”
The chemistry part required little work for Wabinga and Colon.
“I’ve always considered her like my little sister,” Wabinga said. “I figured it was just kind of a given she’d go to Saint Martin’s too. It pretty much was already decided.”
Visit the Saint’s full schedule online for the entire 2015 season line-up.
