A year after sharing the NWAACC South Region title with Mount Hood, the Southwestern Oregon Community College volleyball team is in a rebuilding mode of sorts.

Gone to Eastern New Mexico University are powerful outside hitters Kari Adkins and Jessie Macknicki and setter Stephanie Willett. In their place are a bunch of freshmen and a few returning players.

It's a talented group, but how the squad fares against the tough regional foes remains to be seen.

“Our only thing is just going to be experience,” said John Speasl, in his 28th year as coach of the Lakers.

The sophomores include Marshfield graduates Michelle Holcomb and Alanna Thompson-Poore, Ashley Vanleeuwen and Shalene Christy, who skipped volleyball last year to focus on basketball. Tammie Andres, a freshman on the basketball team last year, also is playing volleyball this fall.

“She's pretty good,” Speasl said of the Hawaii native. “She's so athletic, and she's an upbeat kid.”

As is tradition, the Lakers have several South Coast players. In addition to Holcomb and Thompson-Poore, Marshfield graduate Whitney Miller has joined the team as a freshman. Another freshman is Ashley Canup from North Bend, while the fifth local player is Myrtle Point's Megan Little, creating a family first for Speasl. He also coached Little's mom, Melanie, in 1983 and 84.

“We've had sisters and cousins,” Speasl said. This is the first time he's had coached both a mother and daughter.

The Lakers have a good mix of players. They don't have a dominant hitter like Adkins and Macknicki.

That's OK, said Christy, who joins Holcomb as captains for the squad.

“We don't have a lot of power hitters, but we're picking up in other areas,” she said. “We pick up balls (on defense) you don't think you could get to.”

Christy, who plays as a middle hitter, secured a spot on the school's all-time records list when she had 20 kills in a match earlier this season.

“She hits for a real high percentage,” Speasl said. “She jumps like a deer and has a real good angle on the ball.”

Miller had 19 in another match to also find a spot on the list, while Holcomb earned a spot on the setters list with 27 assists in a match.

That's a big change for Holcomb, who has transitioned from a defensive player at Marshfield to a right-side hitter last year to a setter and right-side hitter this year in the Lakers' new attack, which includes two setters. Holcomb serves as a setter when she's in the back-row portion of the rotation and right-side hitter when she's in the front row.

“I'm definitely learning,” Holcomb said. “I never thought I would be a setter. It's a way to play all the way around.”

Andres and Erica Sheets, a freshman from Yoncalla, also are setters for the team.

Two keys have emerged if the Lakers are to be successful.

One is attitude, which Christy said has been positive.

“It's all in the enthusiasm with us,” she said. “We can play with anyone. It's if we show up.”

The other is teamwork, which has been another strength.

“This year, we're just working on playing together as a team,” Holcomb said. “We have to trust each other. We're doing pretty good.”

Christy said the team's chemistry has been outstanding since the start of practice, a must in volleyball.

“Everyone gets along and they're really energetic,” Christy said. “It's real important when you're in a 30-by-30 square with six people. You've got to communicate.”

The Lakers also have found outstanding support from the players on the bench who aren't in the match at any given time, she said.

Whether the Lakers can mix all the pieces together to finish in the playoffs remains to be seen. The top four teams in the region will reach the NWAACC tournament, where Southwestern went 2-2 last year.

Matches tonight and Saturday against Mount Hood and Clackamas should give the team some idea of where it's at against the better teams in the region.

“We've got a lot of freshmen, but we've picked it up fast,” Christy said. “We started jelling quicker than my freshman year.”

“Last year, we had two amazing hitters,” Holcomb said. “This year, we don't have one person who is amazing, but everyone is contributing.”

That's exactly what Speasl likes to hear.

“I firmly believe that a good team can beat six great players,” he said. “That's our thing, is to be a team.”