NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — It is immediately clear how much Denbigh volleyball coach Toni Scott believes in her team's setter, Reyner De La Cruz.
"If he's willing to put in the work he can be Player of the Year. He can be first team All District, first team All Region, and who knows maybe first team All State," says Scott, laying out the goals that the best high school volleyball players in the area are after.
The belief shines through as she describes his skill set. "Reyver has great hands, he's a wonderful setter," Scott continues "he has the technical ability to be an amazing player."
Scott, however, is pushing her players to adopt the same belief she has in them, for themselves.
"They gotta believe in themselves. If you don't believe in yourself then there's no point in ever going out there. You should always believe that you can beat whoever is out there," says the Coach.
Reyver, a junior, has moved seamlessly from back row to setter this season, while guiding the Patriots to their second straight state tournament. Coach Scott hopes that his belief will grow as much as his list of volleyball accomplishments have.
"I think I believe it more than him sometimes. If he believes it as much as I do, he will go far. Getting kids to really believe in themselves is a lot more difficult than others tend to think. Really just building them up and making sure that I believe in you, and if I believe in you then you need to believe in yourself as much as I do if not more."
Reyver will play club volleyball in the offseason as he prepares for another run at a state championship. He'll also spend more time at outside hitter next season, his 3rd position in 3 years. It's a lot on the shoulders of a player who only picked up the game in 8th grade, but Scott believes he's more than capable of handling it.
