Justin-Siena High School had the best volleyball player and girls golfer in the county last fall. Both are gone, but their coaches are back with new leaders.

The Braves’ water polo and girls tennis teams have new coaches and philosophies, while the returning soccer and cross country coaches are eager to see how last year’s young squads have matured.

Volleyball

Losing All-County Player of the Year Tiffany Molinar and seven other seniors to graduation certainly has changed the look of the Braves.

But they remain a tall order for the rest of the Marin County Athletic League, as 6-foot-2 Kyleigh McAhren and 6-foot Lizette Jaeger return for their senior seasons at middle hitter.

Head coach Kelly Porter said both have much club volleyball experience, and that McAhren hopes to continue her playing career at a major college.

“We expect Kyleigh to play more of an all-around game. She’s a vocal player and will be our team captain,” Porter said. “Liz improves every day. Having that combination in front will be big for us.”

Also returning as seniors are outside hitters Brittney Jones and Alexis Reeves and libero Mallory Huntsinger.

“This year our seniors will be a more dominant force,” Porter said. “We’ll have more options with this group to be creative offensively — the girls won’t necessary play in their strong positions all the time.”

Taking over Molinar’s setter spot in the 5-1 offense is junior Lauren Yannucci. The other four juniors are outside hitter Kelsey Scanlon, libero/defensive specialist Mary Katherine Pecha and right-side hitters Ali Bassett and Nicolette Lounibos, who is also a defensive specialist.

Setter/utility player Molly Bell and 5-foot-10 middle hitter Claire Anderson are sophomores.

“They really feel this is their year to take league,” Porter said before Thursday’s match against Ursuline. “They want to get the season going.”

Porter, a 1988 Vintage High graduate who played at Napa Valley College and Sonoma State, coached Justin-Siena’s JV and varsity for three years each before stepping down in 1998 to have a family.

She returned last year and guided the Braves to a second-place Marin County Athletic League record of 12-2 and a 14-4 overall mark.

Boys Soccer

A year ago, Braves head coach Rafael Ayala had just one senior on a 15-player squad that finished with one win — a preseason victory over Middletown. But Ayala said his team drew praise from MCAL coaches at league meetings.

“They said that was the first time they seen our kids actually not quit,” Ayala said. “The MCAL is one of the hardest leagues soccer-wise in the Bay Area. I told our players this year I’m not going to guarantee them any wins, but I don’t want them to ever quit. I want them to be able to bounce back from a 4-0 deficit.”

Ayala, a 1998 Napa High graduate, said his high school coach instilled in his team “a blue-collar mentality of working hard for what you got,” and that he tries to carry that into his own coaching.

Justin-Siena returns with 17 players, led by junior center midfielder Eddie Gutierrez, and many of them put in extra work over the summer.

Ayala is assisted this year by Carlos Uribe, a 1998 Justin-Siena graduate who he said helps instill some alumni pride in the squad.

Gutierrez led the Braves in scoring last year with about five goals.

“Eddie was a workhorse last year,” Ayala said. “He ran everywhere. He’s a great kid and so full of emotion.“

Two seniors will help lead the team — forward Ryan Andre, a third-year varsity player who also has a great touch on the ball, according to Ayala, and 6-foot-2 goalkeeper Hugh Miles.

“He knows what to do as a goalie,” Ayala said of Miles. “He could play at the college level.”

Ayala said he’s also had high expectations for sophomore midfielder Scott Leid, who plays for a state-ranked club team in Davis, and senior forward C.J. Garcia, who has a powerful shot, is intelligent and knows how to use his body.

Girls Golf

The Braves won’t return senior Emily Talley, making them quite a bit less competitive against the rest of the MCAL but more cohesive as a unit under seventh-year coach Mike Roark.

Andi Bernard is their lone returning senior, now in her second year of golf. Sophomore Jaime Picano also played in some varsity matches last season, while the other eight players are new to the team.

Freshman Taylor Bicknell is the only newcomer with tournament experience.

Talley will play this year for Robert Louis Stevenson, a boarding school in Carmel, and will likely play behind two nationally-ranked players.

“Emily was definitely the best player in our league and one of the best in Northern California,” Roark said. “She has the talent and ability to play (collegiate) Division I golf and to be perfectly honest, the caliber of competition in our league is going to be very down.”

Water Polo

First-year coach Tom Coughlin was an assistant coach at the University of California, Santa Barbara, for men’s and women’s teams in 2003-2004 that finished in the top 8 in national rankings.

He also coached youth water polo teams in Dublin, Ireland in 2004, and in Strasbourg, France in 2002 while playing there.

Coughlin also had coaching stints with the boys and girls club teams in the East Bay, at Concord’s De La Salle High — which reached the North Coast Section finals — and the St. Mary’s College men’s club team.

He said senior Danny Gaynor has the most experience for the Braves’ boys.

“He will be counted upon for offense and defense, but also to help be a leader to the younger players,” the coach said. “So far, the boys are improving quickly and all have great attitudes.”

For the girls team, Coughlin will look for senior Rachelle Whitehead to bring to the pool the same kinds of skills and intensity she used to help the basketball team finish second in the MCAL last season.

“She also has a great competitive nature that hopefully will serve to fire up the rest of the girls team,” he said. “There is a lot of potential on the girls’ side. Many have a strong swimming background.”

Cross Country

The Braves are coming off a fifth-place boys finish in the MCAL, while its girls finished ninth in the league.

“We have six guys that should run very well as a fast pack this year, four from last year’s team,” coach Jim Haugen said.

Juniors Kevin Cardey and Mike Bozzini and seniors Jon Iund and Graham Moore return to lead the squad, he said, along with “two very talented additions” in junior John Masyczek and sophomore Austin Hyatt.

“I think that all of these guys are capable of going under 17 (minutes) this year,” Haugen said.

Also running for the boys will be junior Chris Miller, sophomores Chris Lopez and Guillermo Lopez, and freshmen Myles Deboer, Nick Kinda and Josh Brown.

The girls knocked more than a minute off of their 2005 average time at the section meet by posting an average of 22 minutes, 50 seconds — and all seven have returned.

“The girls have been improving every year and I expect that they will continue to move forward this year,” Haugen said.

Leading the way will be senior Mary Kate Fidler, a three-time All-MCAL selection.

The coach also has high expectations for senior Brooke Bainum, juniors Stephanie Herwatt, Laura Marks and Beatriz Arostegui, and sophomore Erin Kinda.

Out of 106 girls at last year’s NCS meet, Herwatt finished 52nd, Kinda 55th and Bainum 63rd.

Girls Tennis

First-year skipper Chris Swain is coaching high school tennis for the first time, having previously coached a variety of middle school and recreational sports in his Southern California hometown of Laverne.

He inherits a young team that has only two seniors and five juniors.

One senior is returning doubles player Alyson Smith. The other nine players are led by junior Kelsie Thomas and freshman Maja Jeramad, two players who will probably battle for the No. 1 singles spot.

“This will be a development year,” said Swain, who is assisted by a former Justin player’s father, John Ring.

“We’ll make it fun and get them growing as players, and next summer get them out hitting and getting an earlier start. If they develop physically, spiritually and emotionally, they’ll develop team skills and wins will take care of themselves.”