Oskaloosa teammates Hailey Kelly, left, Haley Pfau, center, and Kristin Brey led Oskie to the state volleyball crown this fall and will play hoops this winter.

The first practice of the season had just started, and first-year Oskaloosa High girls basketball coach Scott Whaley was already feeling a little extra pressure.

Not because it’s his first year — he was the junior varsity boys basketball coach last year and met most of the girls on his team as a middle-school gym teacher. He’s nervous because he has a tough act to follow.

See, a lot of the players on his team also played volleyball in the fall: his best scorer, rebounder and passer, among others. They played pretty well, too, winning the Class 2A state championship on Oct. 30. They took a celebratory ride on an Oskaloosa Fire Department truck Thursday.

So his team isn’t exactly lacking in confidence going into the basketball season.

“I feel like a lot of people have high expectations for us since we did win state,” senior point guard and libero Hailey Kelly said. “I think coming off a state championship, we’ll be able to do work again on the basketball team.”

Around half of the volleyball team is on the basketball roster. Senior Kristin Brey said it hasn’t sunk in that the team actually won state.

At the beginning of the year, the volleyball team just wanted to make it back to state for the second consecutive year. The players figured their experience in 2009 would help them have a better shot at the state tournament in 2010, but they only aimed at a top-three finish. The Bears qualified easily and drew a No. 5 seed.

“Then we got there, and we saw our competition, and we thought our chance was even better than we could have ever expected to be,” Brey said.

The Bears swept their first three matches in pool play to advance to the semifinals. They took down Plainville (25-18, 25-15) to make it to the finals against No. 1 Oberlin-Decateur Community.

The dream nearly died in the second set in front of an Oskaloosa crowd, with people the players and coaches didn’t know followed volleyball. Facing a five-point deficit in the middle of the second set, Kelly knew something needed to change, especially in her last high school volleyball match.

“We just had to collect our composure and relax,” Kelly said. “Finally we just got it rolling and got back in it. It was amazing.”

Oskaloosa completed the comeback, winning in three games, 24-26, 26-24, 25-21. The team consisted of Kelly, Brey and senior Jessie Beach; juniors Brooke Beach, Jordan Miller, Haley Pfau, Rachel Schmanke and Lakin Thompson; sophomores Taylor Willits, Erin Bowser and Nicole Kruse; and freshman Megan Grother.

Kelly, Brey, Schmanke, Pfau, Miller and Thompson are on the basketball team as well. Now they have to translate that winning energy to the hardwood.

Kelly and Pfau are veterans on the team; Kelly has run the point for four years and Pfau has played on the wing for three. Kelly averaged 14.1 points and five assists per game last season. Pfau contributed 15.8 points a game to the team that finished 14-8 last season.

Volleyball coach Tosha Landau, who just completed her fifth year as volleyball coach, said Pfau’s all-around athletic talent makes her a threat in both sports.

Whaley said expectations like going to state or having an undefeated record are great, but don’t necessarily set appropriate goals for the team.

“What I expect out of them is to work hard in practice,” Whaley said. “Just knowing these girls, I know that they are going to do that.”

If it’s a team-first attitude Whaley is looking for, Landau knows how to foster that attitude. She didn’t share volleyball stats with her team during the season.

“None of them ask to see,” Landau said. “They really don’t care. I think the only stat they care about is their win-loss record.”

The win-loss record is now reset for the volleyball players on the basketball team.

“I know they had a great season, a great run,” Whaley said. “The community was excited, the school was excited. I think they understand that they can have a similar season in basketball. They can have some success, and they want to see that happen.”