New leader has MHS boys' volleyball team thinking positive
Cory Hanson brings enthusiasm to the bench
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers NICE AND EASY- Moorpark's Stephen Novak bumps the ball with his forearms during last Friday night's Marmonte League opener vs. Newbury Park. The Musketeers lost in five games.

Last year Cory Hanson left Rutgers University after one semester of playing volleyball to come home to Moorpark, where he had previously played volleyball in junior college.

Hanson said he was miserable living and going to school on the East Coast, but little did he know returning home would be one of the best decisions he would ever make.

A year after leaving Rutgers, the 21-year-old Hanson is back in volleyball, this time as a coach for the boys' team at Moorpark High.

"I have coached before on club teams, but coaching at the high school level is so much better," Hanson said. "I am so glad I came back home. California is so much better than New Jersey. I love this team; they are awesome. They seem to respond well to me and have a desire to win."

Winning is something the Musketeers didn't do too often last year, as the team won just one league game, Hanson said. Hanson takes over for Angela Ule, who resigned. Although MHS is 1-3 early in the season, the team has responded well to Hanson.

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers TALL ORDER- Brian Buck, left, and Kyle Ferguson, right, of Moorpark provide little room for Newbury Park's Mickey Kelleher to place the ball. MHS has renewed hopes on the court this year.

"Coach Hanson has helped get our whole team to play well together," senior Sean Daley said. "He has played volleyball recently, so he knows what to do on the court. He knows what works in a certain situation and what doesn't."

Being a younger coach has helped Hanson become more of what he calls a "players' coach," as he often participates with his players while doing drills.

Hanson said his main influences for coaching are his former Moorpark College assistant coach Kelle Roesel, who now is the head coach at California Lutheran University, and Kevin Judd, who's an assistant coach to Roesel at CLU.

"I basically got handed the job here at Moorpark because of Kelle Roesel putting in a good word for me, so I am very thankful for that," Hanson said.

"I basically learned how to coach from Kelle and Kevin, and I learned from them how to reach a player without barking orders at them. I want to work with the players on their skills, but I want them to have fun while doing it because I remember that's how I liked it as a player."

Although Hanson is new to the team, the players he has been working with are mostly returnees from 2006. Daley, who is headed for the University of Pacific in the fall, returns for his third year on the varsity team.

"He has been hitting very well," Hanson said about Daley. "He's not getting blocked very often and is a force at the net. It has been hard for opposing teams' outside hitters to get anything by him because he's 6-foot-7."

Joining Daley is setter Stephen Novak, who Hanson called "very smart" and a player that always knows when to set others up. Novak agreed that the passing and setting have gotten better on the team, but it's still not where it needs to be for the Musketeers to win, he said.

"Passing is our weak spot so far," Novak said. "I do think it is better than what it was at the beginning of the season, and a lot of that has to do with Coach Hanson. We have a lot of respect for him."

Other players that should contribute to the Musketeers are senior Brandon Nuckles, who, according to Hanson, had 26 kills against Newbury Park last week.

Seniors Kyle Ferguson and Angus Simko will play in the middle, while senior Kent Hartnett will play outside.

"Kent is another one of our goto guys," Hanson said. "He is a very smart player that doesn't get blocked too often, and he is really good at tooling the block."

While MHS has many seniors on the team, the libero is a newcomer, freshman Dylan Shigekawa.

"I used to play with Dylan's older brother Kellan, so I've seen Dylan hanging around the gym for quite a while now," Hanson said. "He is really good and has handled being on the team as a freshman very well."

Novak agreed with Hanson about Shigekawa's play.

"Dylan has been an excellent player for us," Novak said. "He seems to always put the balls right where they need to be when setting people up."

Hanson said the Musketeers' record will improve this season.

"We need to play together as a team and just make sure we play fundamentally sound volleyball," Hanson said. "If we do that, we should at least make the playoffs, which would be a big step from last year."

Moorpark plays tonight at Calabasas. Game time is set for 6 p.m.