Overview:
Coach Adeile Ahmu says the new team aims to establish consistency and a strong defense as they step into the Western League.
Coronado High School’s girls volleyball team reached a peak last year; the momentum they set early in the season came up just short of CIF victory.
The team won the first league title – it had been a decade since the team clinched that title. They also won 25 consecutive games in a two-month span, and they won more than two-thirds of their matches in straight sets. Among other accomplishments, last season’s successful run prior to CIFs earned them top ranking among 22 Division II programs.
The loss in the CIF semifinals was unexpected, but coach Adeile Ahmu said that it lit a fire in returning players. Heading into the 2025-26 season, The Coronado News spoke with Ahmu about the team this year, especially as they step into the more competitive Western League and CIF Division I. Responses are edited for clarity and brevity.
Question: How is the team shaping up this season? How did tryouts go?
Adeile Ahmu: Tryouts were pretty extensive. We had a lot of returning underclassmen that were trying out. So, for the first couple of days, there were a lot of girls just putting their best foot forward, and we were really looking to fill two major roles that we lost last year in our offense.
So, [we were] taking a look at all the centers and the hitters that were coming out. That’s what the coaches were looking for, and that’s what we were looking for to fill in. We got a couple of new surprises. We got some transfers that came out from Washington, due to military purposes, so it was refreshing to see new talent on the court. We kept a pretty big team this year, [as] opposed to last year. I was looking for a lot of depth in the lineup, so I was also looking for a couple more defenders, like defensive specialists, to help us out just with our passing and our defense.
CN: Like you mentioned, last year’s team was pretty small. Why did you want to make the team bigger this year?
AA: I think because we have a very large senior class… I wanted to make sure that there weren’t too many gaps we had to fill next year. We took an older JV team as well… The focus point is always the current year. But when you have a large senior class like we did this year, I’m always kind of looking ahead to make sure that it’s not too much of a stressor next year when tryouts come out.
Q: With navigating this new team, how have you guys been working on building that sense of team rapport that really drives a successful team?
Ahmu: Oh, that’s a good question. That was a big thing. They’re new. Even though we had a lot of returning players, they’re still getting to know the new kids on the team and we do a lot of cooperative communication drills.
And hopefully, that really helps [and] forces them to communicate on the court with each other during ball play. So for me, it’s just a lot of repetitive drills where we have to communicate.
Their goal is to communicate because the skill is there. They have the skills. They just need to work on putting it all together.
With the seniors that are coming back, like Avalon [Haro] and Lydia [Schutt] and Ari [Van Handel], they’ve been on the team the longest, and they’re setting their leadership qualities out on the court. So hopefully they can all mesh well as we continue to practice and take some time off the court and hang out. Things like that so the girls can get acquainted.
Q: You mentioned leadership… Have the captains for the season been chosen, and if so, what qualities do they have that make them good candidates for this team?
Ahmu: We just picked captains this week, and the big thing with me was just consistency, communication and setting examples for the team. I gave them two weeks to show their leadership on the court and, not just during the games, but practice wise and off court situations.
We went with Ashlynn Proctor as a captain [and] a new face on the team, Angelique Bernard. She came in, and she’s been dealt a pretty bummer hand. She can’t play; she’s a sit out transfer. So, she took on the role in our tournament – she kept our bench really hyped. She made sure that everybody was engaged. She inserted herself giving service areas, which was totally fine with me because that’s one less thing I have to worry about.
I can focus on the team, on the court. She took that role, and she led our service runs a lot. And then, we went with Alyssa Jovero. She’s a big force on the court when she’s on the court. She’s our defensive specialist. She’s always the first one there and the last one to leave. So, we went that route with our captains.
Q: I want to take us back to last year. It was a banner year for the team, a lot of accolades and accomplishments in the span of a season. How do you hope to keep that momentum going for the team this year following that banner year?
Ahmu: Keeping a winning mindset and making sure that the girls are locked in – that’s the goal. Always be better than the last year. I mean, that year, it’s gone. It’s over; it’s a new year. And you got to keep that mindset and make sure that you’re out there to give it your all. The goal is to win. What are we going to do as a team to get there? That takes a lot of buying into the program, buying into your leadership, buying into everything that we’re doing. And hopefully, the girls can keep that mindset this year. I mean, they’ve already been talking about trying to win league again.
We went back into the [opening] tournament, the same tournament we opened up with last year. We came in second last year against San Marcos. That was the only loss that we had in that tournament. And then, it was almost like a repeat this year. We came back here. We lost to Bishops on the first day, two and one, same thing. And then we met them up in the championship.
I gave [the team] a quick pep talk before we went into the semifinals. I said, “Hey, we got to win together. This is your time now to either lock in and work together and win or only think about yourself and you can possibly lose this game.” They brought it. They were very loud on the court. They worked hard to play defense. We came out on top…
Q: Like you said, it’s a new season. But for the returners who were on the team last year, that loss in the Division II semifinals last year, that was tough to watch.
Ahmu: That was really heartbreaking.
Q: Do they still think about that, or walk me through what’s motivating them this season?
Ahmu: When we lost that match, at the end of the match, we were leaving. The girls were like, “We’ll be here next year. We don’t want to feel the same way we feel now.” I think that’s a really big driving force for them. They’re going to continue to put their best foot forward, but they don’t ever want to feel that. They knew they could have taken that game.
They knew they could’ve beat them. They’re going to do their homework better this time. They want to win. Most of them are seniors that are returning from last year, I think five out the seven that returned are seniors.
They want to have a fun season. They want to make sure that they’re not stressing each other out, but they also know that this team also can take them very far. They just got to work together.
Q: Looking ahead, which teams do you think will be some of your toughest opponents this year? And is there anything you guys are going to be doing specifically as you prepare to face off those teams?
Ahmu: We were bumped into Western League, which is probably the toughest league in the City Conference – those are Cathedral Catholic, OLP, Christian and Scripps Ranch.
I think all of those teams are very competitive. I think we’ll probably, like everybody else, be competing against Cathedral, who is No. 2 or No. 1 in the state. They’re a very competitive team. I told the girls, “Hey, we can compete. We’ve competed before and all we have to do is keep our game simple and make sure that we are fundamentally sound when we go into this game, because they’re big.” We’re big too. They hit hard; we hit hard. We just have to make sure that we’re ready to defend, pass and serve.
To be honest, my game is to keep it simple as possible with as much defense as possible. I don’t want to get too fancy out there.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share or add about this coming season or the team in general?
Ahmu: These girls are ready to compete. I think their self-esteem and their confidence is really high, and it’s something that’s going to carry them… I mean, we have great leadership on the court and on the sideline, with all our seniors that are returning, like Lydia and Avalon, who’ve been there for four years. They know what it takes. They’ve been here and they’re ready to help lead their team.
We would love for our stands to be packed. Hopefully, we get more people to come in and watch our games.
To check out the team’s schedule, visit https://www.maxpreps.com/ca/coronado/coronado-islanders/volleyball/schedule/
