1979 Evergreen Girls VolleyballThere are legends and there are legendary teams. It becomes really special when the legends are a part of the legendary teams.
For Evergreen High School, the initial step toward legendary status came when a legend took over the program. Lo Hunter, a member of the CHSAA Hall of Fame (1996) and the National High School Hall of Fame (2000), took over the program.
The 1976 team won the first of the school’s eight state championships, but it was the 1979 team cemented the foundation for legacy to come.
Resplendent with players like Tanya Haave (CHSAA Hall of Fame 1993, NHSHoF 2001), Lorie Culp and Liz Edy, the team boasted now fewer than six players that went on to play Division I volleyball.
The third team to be recognized by the CHSAA Hall of Fame, the 1979 Evergreen High School team is recognized as THE team in the string of 8 state titles out of 10 from 1976 to 1986 by athletes who were members of those teams.
Coached by Hunter and led by Haave, Edy and Culp, the Cougars were a part of a string of 182 consecutive wins from 1978-1986.
The members of the team remember Hunter as a tough task master, but fair, citing her work in creating opportunities for young women in the early days of girls’ athletics.
Haave remembers the team as being talented, close and focused on what they wanted to accomplish, she also noted that they practiced morning and afternoon, practicing more than any boys’ team.
Edy and Culp noted that playing for Hunter was a true exercise in patience and humility. They said that the players had to trust her, but the coach made them better women.
At the time it was hard, but she loved each player to the core. She spent her own money on uniforms. Her heart and soul was all in the end product.
Edy said the team wanted to win it for Evergreen and for the team.
It was always about the team, never about the stats, Culp noted
