West Field is 5 wins deep and back in the race
WASHINGTON TERRACE — Borrowing a phrase from a local coaching legend, the West Field girls volleyball team is experiencing a level of buy-in not before seen in the program’s brief, three-year existence.
Janzten Ryan, now in Year 3 coaching Longhorn volleyball, adopted the F.A.M.I.L.Y. mantra from former Ogden High football coach Erik Thompson. He coined the acronym — which stands for Forget About Me, I Love You — amid a complete overhaul of the Tiger football program.
It’s not the rebuild project Ogden was, but the Longhorns certainly find themselves in green pastures with seven regular-season matches to go.
West Field, improving to 13-5 (6-1 Region 5) with a three-set sweep at Bonneville on Thursday night, chalked up its fifth consecutive win since a loss to geographical and region rival Fremont spelled a 1-4 skid to begin September.
“After the Fremont loss, I feel like they’ve really dialed in,” Ryan said. “Our serve receive, offensively connecting with our setter(s), I feel like it’s definitely motivating to work a lot harder in practice. They’ve always worked hard, but it’s put a little extra chip on their shoulder to work hard.”
Speaking captains Kalli Bremser and Ainsley Schiffman, the latter the cousin of Weber High volleyball standout Bradey Schiffman, have played a key role in steering West Field back on track. Bremser, whose 49 season-long blocks rank top-three in 5A and No. 12 in the state, led Thursday’s win over Bonneville with 11 kills.
“The big thing is not focusing on yourself and worrying more about your teammates,” said Bremser, who is West Field’s middle blocker. “That kind of builds camaraderie and helps you worry less about your mistakes as well.”
Elsewhere, fellow senior Ainsley Schiffman is making a difference in the attack at outside hitter. She’s top-five in 5A and top-20 in the state with 209 season-long digs.
West Field has seemingly clawed back into the region race as September rapidly flips to October next week.
“The energy they bring into the gym, they lead by example,” Ryan said. “We worry about our side of the net and everything else takes care of itself.”
West Field resumes play Tuesday, Sept. 29 at Northridge.
Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.