Story by Kayla Denson
Staff Writer
The girls varsity volleyball team is responding well to new head coach Amanda Gomez.
Since taking over in early October, the girls team has won four of six matches , hold a 3-2 league record and are, hopefully for Gomez, heading into a CIF Playoff run.
Coach Gomez took over for Coach Richard Huynh 13 games into the season, an unusual circumstance considering most new volleyball coaches begin their coaching in the summer.
The transition has been up and down, she said.
“The first week was pretty hectic,” Coach Gomez said. “But everyone’s been pretty helpful—the faculty, the parents—you just got to move along. It’s a lot smoother now.
While Coach Gomez is new to the pressures of being a head coach, she has had plenty of expierance on the volleyball court.
When she played for El Monte High School, Coach Gomez spent just one year on junior varsity then transitioned to varsity her sophomore year. Her senior year she was awarded Co-MVP.
She attended the University of La Verne and began playing volleyball again her second year in college. Her team made it to the NCAA Division II National Championships.
In her junior year, she started coaching for San Gabriel Starling, which is also the same club volleyball team she played for her senior year in high school.
After college she coached volleyball at La Puente High School, and has coached at Amat for the last three years.
Now five years into coaching volleyball, Coach Gomez feels confident about the outcome of this season. “We have quite a few seniors on our team,” she said. “I think this is the year we go far in CIF.”
The girls’ next league match is Thursday at St. Joseph’s in Lakewood.
