2008 Woodie Awards
Womens 2004-2005 Basketball Preview
Sam Hahn
Issue date: 11/17/04 Section: Sports
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The re-tooled Lady Monarch basketball team kicked off its 2004-05 season Nov. 9 with a 71-66 win over the visiting Santa Barbara Vaqueros.
Lead by new head coach Ruth Seja, the Lady Monarchs look to rebound this season after an unfortunate 74-65 first round loss to the Cypress College Chargers last March.
"We as a coaching staff have used many similar techniques from last season, and we also added some new aspects that can help us greatly," said Seja.
"Coach Muro (last year's head coach) and I worked together during last season, so I didn't have to make too many changes this season," added Seja.
Seja has brought along new coaches Johnny Garcia (Bell-Jeff high school) and Shelton Boykins as the Lady Monarchs look to improve from last season as Valley finished with a 10-2 conference and a 19-10 record overall.
"[The team] has a lot of new girls coming into this season," said Seja. "We only have one returning player from last season (Roxy Quintero) and most of the girls on this team are freshman."
"This year's team is a completely different and new squad from last season," added Seja.
As nine of the 12 Lady Monarchs are freshman, Seja explained that Valley would be relying heavily on the play of freshmen April Montgomery, Jennae Peoples, and Natasha Thomas.
Also coming back are sophomores April Montgomery, and Jasmine Wesley, who is coming back from a two-year break recovering from a knee injury.
With these changes, the Lady Monarchs hope to make a bold statement this season explained Seja.
"Offensively, we have the height that we greatly lacked last season, but we lost a two time all-state point guard in Syretta Coleman," said Seja.
"Hopefully, we can make up the loss of Coleman with our size this season."
Playing in front of a raucous home crowd, the Lady Monarchs and Vaqueros opened up the season as Valley played from behind most of the game.
Finding their momentum, Thomas carried Valley in the second half as the freshman center had 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 blocks as the Lady Monarchs and Vaqueros fought each other continuously to maintain their lead during the game.
The Lady Monarchs opened their season with a third place finish in the Merced tournament and are currently 3-1 in the season.
The Lady Monarchs will play in the SBCC Tip-Off Classic Nov. 18-20.
Lead by new head coach Ruth Seja, the Lady Monarchs look to rebound this season after an unfortunate 74-65 first round loss to the Cypress College Chargers last March.
"We as a coaching staff have used many similar techniques from last season, and we also added some new aspects that can help us greatly," said Seja.
"Coach Muro (last year's head coach) and I worked together during last season, so I didn't have to make too many changes this season," added Seja.
Seja has brought along new coaches Johnny Garcia (Bell-Jeff high school) and Shelton Boykins as the Lady Monarchs look to improve from last season as Valley finished with a 10-2 conference and a 19-10 record overall.
"[The team] has a lot of new girls coming into this season," said Seja. "We only have one returning player from last season (Roxy Quintero) and most of the girls on this team are freshman."
"This year's team is a completely different and new squad from last season," added Seja.
As nine of the 12 Lady Monarchs are freshman, Seja explained that Valley would be relying heavily on the play of freshmen April Montgomery, Jennae Peoples, and Natasha Thomas.
Also coming back are sophomores April Montgomery, and Jasmine Wesley, who is coming back from a two-year break recovering from a knee injury.
With these changes, the Lady Monarchs hope to make a bold statement this season explained Seja.
"Offensively, we have the height that we greatly lacked last season, but we lost a two time all-state point guard in Syretta Coleman," said Seja.
"Hopefully, we can make up the loss of Coleman with our size this season."
Playing in front of a raucous home crowd, the Lady Monarchs and Vaqueros opened up the season as Valley played from behind most of the game.
Finding their momentum, Thomas carried Valley in the second half as the freshman center had 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 blocks as the Lady Monarchs and Vaqueros fought each other continuously to maintain their lead during the game.
The Lady Monarchs opened their season with a third place finish in the Merced tournament and are currently 3-1 in the season.
The Lady Monarchs will play in the SBCC Tip-Off Classic Nov. 18-20.
