Coach Dave Morehouse retires after 30 years at Shorecrest

After 30 years, Dave Morehouse is retiring as head volleyball coach at Shorecrest High School. He was recognized before the game on October 12 with these remarks from David Harrison. The last game of the season is a home match on October 24.

Current and past players honor Coach Morehouse

As many of you know, this is Dave’s 30th, and final season at Shorecrest in his role as head coach. I doubt, Dave, that when you were hired in 1987 you envisioned you would still be guiding the volleyball program at Shorecrest three decades later. And I know this is a very bittersweet night and season for you.

My name is David Harrison. I met Dave Morehouse in 1999 when my oldest daughter Chelsie was a freshman at Shorecrest. She played four years for Dave. Four years later her younger sister Brittney came to Shorecrest and she too played four years for Dave. In Brittney’s senior year, 2003, Chelsie joined the Shorecrest coaching staff, and over the next nine years, Chelsie, Brittney or I, sometimes all three, were all part of the Shorecrest coaching staff.

As part of my introduction this evening I want to give a shout out to a good friend of Dave’s, Ed McKnight. Ed has assisted Dave with the varsity team for more than twenty years.

Some of you here tonight have played for Coach Morehouse. Many of you here tonight have sat over the years in these bleachers and cheered for Shorecrest volleyball. You have all been part of the history and legacy of Shorecrest volleyball. You have been privileged to share a snapshot in time, if you will, of this program. But Dave Morehouse owns the photo album. He has contributed to the history and legacy of this program in a way that few coaches ever will or ever do.

I realize my fondness for statistics is not necessarily shared by many people so I’ll share just a few. It should be noted that these statistics do not include Dave’s first four seasons, 1987-1990. They were unavailable. Evidently Dave’s tenure as head volleyball coach predates the collection of statistics.

During his tenure, Dave has guided Shorecrest volleyball to (6) First place finishes in Wesco with two of those seasons, 1999 and 2006, finishing undefeated in league play. SC finished in the top five of Wesco an additional eight times.

Shorecrest made ten appearances at the State Tournament, placing sixth in State in 1994, fourth in state in 2004 and 2007, and the best in school history of 3rd in state in 2006.

Dave was named Wesco South Division Coach of the Year in 1996. Excluding the aforementioned period of 1987-90 and the current 2017 season, Shorecrest won 197 matches and lost 137. Just shy of a 60% win percentage.

But as much as I like statistics, they only tell part of any story. In addition to coaching at Shorecrest, Dave has also coached club volleyball for twenty years, most of that spent with the Washington Volleyball Academy, one of the top volleyball club programs in the state.

The high school season runs from August to early November. The club season runs from early November to July 4. Here’s what that means in practical terms. It means that Dave has been on a volleyball court eleven months out of the year for the past twenty years.

While I have no statistics to back it up, that dedication and commitment of time to this sport and to the hundreds of players he has coached, in my opinion, puts him in a very elite group of coaches. I have been around this sport most of my life and still feel like a novice next to Dave. His knowledge of the game, the mechanics, the rules, the ebb and flow of a set and match… unbelievable.

His ability to evaluate young players, correct their mechanics, whether a goofy footed server, an improper arm swing, poor footwork on their approach, or the incorrect hand position of a setter, it didn’t matter. Dave knows volleyball and constantly pushed his players to perfect their mechanics and thus become the best player and teammate they could be.

Would you all please join me in recognizing Shorecrest Head Coach Dave Morehouse in this his 30th high school volleyball season.