Kubasaki junior Yuri Biggins was named to the Far East Division I All-Tournament team for the second straight year and was also named the tournament's Best Hitter. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – It’s not about how a team begins a season so much as how it finishes. And how much it learns along the way.
That was the case for Yuri Biggins and Kubasaki’s girls volleyball team. The Dragons encountered their difficulties at season’s outset, but found their footing in late October, finishing second in the Far East Division I Tournament.
“We start slow and end up doing well,” said Biggins, who was named to the D-I All-Tournament team for the second straight year and earned the tournament’s Best Hitter award to boot.
Biggins has also been named Stars and Stripes’ Pacific girls volleyball Athlete of the Year. She edges out Clarice Lee of Far East Division II runner-up Osan, D-I Tournament MVP Ariana Cruz of Academy of Our Lady of Guam and D-II MVP Erica Yokota of Christian Academy Japan.
Biggins, who averaged 14.8 hitting winners and 5.6 service winners per match this season, is the type of spiker who can elevate the level of play of the rest of the team, Dragons coach Josh McCall said.
“Yuri’s skill level helps us raise that level” be it in matches or in practice, McCall said, adding that her experience as a beach volleyball player has helped her “become an all-around good player.”
For Kubasaki, the regular-season ledger didn’t resemble one that the Dragons – four-time D-I Tournament champions since 2014 – have posted over the last decade.
They lost their first three regular-season matches to island-rival Kadena, something no Kubasaki team had done in 21 seasons.
“Having good competition is always good,” Biggins said. “We found out what we were not good at and we worked on it.”
Those included serve receiving and passing, all the while working on developing good chemistry, Biggins and McCall said.
“We always never gave up” during matches,” Biggins said. “We would always come back. And coach did some things with us to work on our mental strength.”
That strength and improved skill helped the Dragons go 3-0 in pool play during the 10th American School In Japan YUJO Tournament in early October. They lost in the semifinals to Kadena and came in fourth.
In the Far East D-I tournament on the Dragons’ home court, Kubasaki split its pool-play match with Kadena, then ousted ASIJ in the semifinals to reach the championship match against AOLG, which beat Kubasaki in straight sets for its second straight title.
Biggins, who has lived on Okinawa all her life, is expected back for her senior year. One aspect that McCall said should benefit Biggins and the Dragons in the future is something the Cougars showed them in the D-I final.
“We knew we could serve tough, but could we serve tough to multiple locations” on the court was the question, McCall said. “I think that’s going to be a takeaway for us next season.”
Yuri Aina Biggins
Year: Junior
Age: 16
Place of birth: Okinawa.
Favorite school subject: Humanities.
Least favorite school subject: U.S. history.
Favorite athlete: Yuki Ishikawa, Japanese pro volleyball player.
Favorite music, performers: Jazz, R&B, Christian, Bruno Mars.
Favorite snack: Hot Cheetos.
