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Review: Horror Hall crams endless twists and turns into a quarter mile of hell

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A birthday to remember for Penn State’s Mike Gesicki

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; She&#8217;ll never forget her first day.</p><p>Samantha Page has always known high-caliber volleyball. She grew up in the Bishop Hoban system under then head coach and current Holy Redeemer coach Jack Kablick. She knew the style, understood the level of play and wanted to bring that with her to Coughlin High School where she was named head coach.</p><p>&#8220;I knew it was going to take some time because we were going to have to start from the basics,&#8221; Page said. &#8220;And when I mean the basics, it was like Day 1. Some of our girls didn&#8217;t even know about the game, and it was their first day. We had to learn the basic rules. I knew we were going to have to work toward the style of volleyball that I wanted them to play.&#8221;</p><p>She&#8217;ll never forget what it was like during that nearly 50-match losing streak.</p><p>Tamar Bourdeau was a sophomore when Page took over in 2013. The outside hitter always believed it was possible to turn it around, but it would take time.</p><p>&#8220;It was hard, I won&#8217;t lie,&#8221; said Bourdeau, who is also a track and field standout at Coughlin. &#8220;You knew that other teams looked at the name, and said that it was going to be easy because it was Coughlin. But I always looked at it like we were the underdog. And it&#8217;s OK to be the underdog.&#8221;</p><p>She&#8217;ll never forget that Meyers match in 2014.</p><p>Kelsie Stachokus peered at the schedule, and knew what the reality was as the season was winding down.</p><p>Beat Meyers or have a third-straight winless season.</p><p>&#8220;When we won that match, I couldn&#8217;t stop crying,&#8221; the 5-foot-7 setter said. &#8220;I was just so overwhelmed with tears of joy. We worked so hard, and everyone wanted this so bad. Coach Sam kept telling us to keep working hard, and things were going to turn around. That day was the day we started to turn it around here at Coughlin.&#8221;</p><p>Welcome to 2015 where the Crusaders aren&#8217;t that easy win on the schedule anymore.</p><p>Page never promised anything to the girls when she first walked into gymnasium in 2013. Instead, she was straight-up real with them. It wasn&#8217;t going to be easy, and it would take some time.</p><p>She never promised success right off the bat, but just asked her team to get better with each match, each practice. Page wanted to set little goals for each Wyoming Valley Conference match &#8211; reachable marks to build confidence.</p><p>To be honest, Coughlin wasn&#8217;t in the best shape when she took over.</p><p>The Crusaders won just one match in 2011. The team had a big zero in the win column during the 2012 season.</p><p>Page went winless in her first year, and it wasn&#8217;t looking the best for 2014. The losing streak had stretched to 50 matches. Yet, the third-year head coach saw it was starting to turn.</p><p>&#8220;I thought we were more competitive in my second year compared to my first,&#8221; Page said. &#8220;We were starting to run an offense, and starting to figure out how I wanted them to play.&#8221;</p><p>Stachokus thought 2014 could be the year where they ended the streak.</p><p>&#8220;We were improving as a team,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t like we didn&#8217;t have a chance to win, like it had been in the past. We started to feel like we could do this.&#8221;</p><p>And it&#8217;s amazing what happens when you get that win.</p><p>&#8220;The whole attitude was different at practice the next day,&#8221; Page said. &#8220;You could see the confidence. They actually believed that they could win. They finally experienced that feeling of what winning was like. Right then, they knew Coughlin could win.&#8221;</p><p>Page knew 2015 was the best chance for success.</p><p>She&#8217;s been with this group of seniors for three years now. There was less time teaching in the preseason, and more hours spent going right into drills and techniques.</p><p>&#8220;Preseason practices went a lot quicker,&#8221; Page said. &#8220;We got right into things on the very first day.&#8221;</p><p>Coughlin, which still has eight games left in the regular season, already has victories over Hanover Area, MMI Prep and GAR.</p><p>Three victories. More than the last four years combined.</p><p>&#8220;People in our school now talk about the volleyball team,&#8221; Stachokus said. &#8220;People come up to me and ask when our next game is or when our next home match is so they can come out and watch us. I think the students notice that we are starting to turn things around here. It feels so good when people come up to me and talk about our program.&#8221;</p><p>Believe it or not, playoffs isn&#8217;t out of the question for the Crusaders.</p><p>A total of six Wyoming Valley Conference squads automatically qualify for the postseason in Class 2A. Five of those seem pretty secure as of today &#8211; Redeemer, North Pocono, Crestwood, Nanticoke Area and Wyoming Area. That sixth spot could go to anyone.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s amazing. I don&#8217;t know if anyone would believe that Coughlin would be in a playoff race,&#8221; Bourdeau said. &#8220;It&#8217;s great. It&#8217;s hard to describe it. We&#8217;ve been through so much. To be able to just play in the playoffs, it would mean so much to me personally.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Coughlin volleyball team practices in their home gymanism on Friday. The Crusaders broke a nearly 50-game losing streak in 2014 and this year, they&#8217;ve won three games, which is more than the last four years combined. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_vb_practice4_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Coughlin volleyball team practices in their home gymanism on Friday. The Crusaders broke a nearly 50-game losing streak in 2014 and this year, they&#8217;ve won three games, which is more than the last four years combined. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams| for Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_vb_practice2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Coughlin volleyball players hone their skills. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_vb_practice2_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Coughlin volleyball players hone their skills. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams| for Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_vb_practice1_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Coughlin girls volleyball team has a shot at reaching the District 2 Class 2A playoffs this season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_vb_practice1_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>The Coughlin girls volleyball team has a shot at reaching the District 2 Class 2A playoffs this season. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams| for Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_vb_practice3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Coughlin volleyball team continues to make strides, going beyond simple basics and developing a distinct style of play. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_vb_practice3_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>The Coughlin volleyball team continues to make strides, going beyond simple basics and developing a distinct style of play. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams| for Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Coughlin finds success through perseverance</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Fox</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Coughlins volleyball team reaping benefits of hard work