More to Coffey than the numbers
Camille Coffey can’t tell you she led her teams in kills, aces, blocks and digs this season. She doesn’t keep track of her statistics.
“I don’t play for numbers, I play to win,” said Coffey, a Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy senior who served as captain of the Tologs volleyball team this season. “I really don’t care about my numbers as long as I’ve done my best to win.”
Coffey was primarily a soccer player until sixth grade when her club team dissolved and her mom pushed her toward volleyball because of her height. She wasn’t only selected for the first team she tried out for, the coach approached her after tryouts and said he needed her on the squad.
Soccer was soon phased out of Coffey’s life and she took to volleyball. She played for Sacred Heart’s soccer team during her freshman year but gave it up after to solely concentrate on volleyball, which she refers to as her “best sport.”
“She really is too well-rounded,” Sacred Heart volleyball Coach Anne Arlie said. “She plays aggressively on both offense and defense. Her mentality is to always put the ball away — never let it drop. She’s always concentrated on digging or killing the ball.”
Her mindset paid off this year as Coffey was named the Mission League’s co-Most Valuable Player. She guided the Tologs to a 6-3 Mission League record, a second-place finish behind Harvard-Westlake and an appearance in CIF Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs.
Coffey led the team in nearly every stat, including kills (241), digs (162), blocks (19) and aces (eight).
An All-Area first-team selection in 2008 and 2009, Coffey’s final season earned her the title of the 2010 All-Area Girls’ Volleyball Player of the Year as voted by the sports editors and writers of the Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press and La Cañada Valley Sun.
The Tologs didn’t enter the 2010 season as league favorites. They were a young team, having graduated eight seniors and returning just four varsity starters.
“We actually did a lot better than most people expected,” Coffey said. “They expected us to drop off and not make the playoffs, but we fought really hard and we did.”
Sacred Heart fought through a tough league schedule and advanced to the postseason. The Tologs lost to Edison 25-15, 25-20, 25-22 in the first round.
Still, Coffey said the challenge of rebuilding and the success that came with it made her senior year the most rewarding.
Now Coffey is setting her sights on her collegiate career at Fairfield University, a Jesuit school in Fairfield, Conn., where Coffey signed her letter of intent Nov. 10.
“I’m very excited to go out and play at that level,” said Coffey, who is unsure how much playing time she’ll receive in the next chapter of her career. “I haven’t asked about playing time, it comes with hard work and playing your best. If your team needs you, you go out.”
First tabbed as Sacred Heart’s captain her sophomore year, Coffey said leadership qualities don’t come natural to her. The soft-spoken Coffey was forced to come out of her shell as a captain.
“I actually started out being very, very quiet when I was made captain,” Coffey said. “I had to speak up and lead the team though. I don’t trash talk but I’m definitely a talker, picking up my team, doing everything possible to win.”
After fulfilling the role of team captain for the past three years, Coffey is excited to start from scratch and prove herself to a new team.
“It’s hard, but it brings out the best in you and shows your character,” Coffey said.
Arlie said Sacred Heart will miss Coffey, especially her leadership.
“Everyone on the team looked up to Camille Coffey — she is irreplaceable,” said Arlie, adding that Coffey provided skill and leadership to help the Tologs along the way. “When she wanted it, everyone else wanted it just as bad. Her intensity made the team’s intensity that much greater.
“We’ll miss the leadership for sure. I think we’ll miss that more than the numbers.”