ENCINITAS — Last year is not something San Dieguito girls volleyball head coach Dexter Harvey really wants to talk about it.

Quick summary: his senior class basically abandoned him, two quitting and one suffering an injury. His junior class, which was forced into a precarious situation of premature leadership, also suffered major injuries. The result was a 0-6 Coastal League record and a very long season. Not exactly something Harvey was used to, considering the Mustangs have consistently won 20 games a year and have been to the state tournament twice in their 10-year existence.

“What had happened was we had a lot of growing up to do last year,” Harvey said. “They were looking for someone to rely on and there was nobody for them to rely on. No, we didn’t have much leadership.”

Where there’s pain, though, there’s always gain, and this season has been no exception for SDA. Through the Oct. 4 victory over Tri-City Christian, the Mustangs are 9-3 overall and tied for first with Santa Fe Christian at 3-1 in Coast League play. And most of their success has to do with the maturation process of their five seniors: Vanessa Beach, Felicia Gualda, Gia Kobara, Leanne Stenett and Kambria Tiano.

The first thing a freshman Mustang learns when entering Harvey’s volleyball program is the motto “FUN,” which is an acronym for fundamentals, unselfishness and never give up.

After a junior season of not just insecurity and inconsistency but valuable lessons learned, this year’s stability has helped the seniors not only fulfill that creed but succeed at rate faster than they even thought they would.

“It’s a better record than we thought but I think we all knew we were going to do a lot better this year,” Gualda said. “We were more prepared because we didn’t want that to happen again.”

Once Harvey saw what 2005 would become, he knew he had to get the program ready for 2007. Granted, he didn’t think they would be bottom-feeders again this year, but while 2006 is not a surprise, it is pleasantly welcomed.

Beach’s transition from Santa Fe Christian has been seamless, and her blocking at the net tremendous. Tiano, when on fire, is as good as it gets. Gualda’s respect level is higher than any teammate’s and Kobara is as tough and competitive as they come.

Stenett, who has been the team captain for the past two seasons, is SDA’s anchor. Not only is her outside play one of the best around, she’s also a second coach out on the court.

“Leanne knows what to tell the girls because she knows what’s going to come out of my mouth anyways,” Harvey said. “It’s a little bit better if they hear it from each other than the dumb old coach.”

Better than hearing it, though, the younger Mustangs have been learning with their eyes.

“We play a lot within ourselves and hope the example rubs off to the others,” Stenett said. “You can tell when somebody is really on and really focused and once that happens it spreads throughout the whole team. It’s contagious.”

As much as these seniors have progressed in the face of adversity, they know the underclassmen that will fill their shoes in the upcoming future will be in good hands.

“When we were juniors last year and had to lead the team they had to step it up also,” Kobara said. “They’re used to coming onto varsity really fast.”

Said Beach: “We’ve already been there, so we can help them and a lot of them make the same mistakes we’ve made so we can tell them how to fix it.”

The one underclassman sponging all that exudes from the seniors is junior setter MacKenzie Aries. She’s like a stew, having a part of each senior’s trait in her, and Harvey hopes “she’ll be able to pass them on before she graduates because after that they’re all sophomores and freshmen.”

Next year, a turnover of one-third will occur for SDA, and just like the past two seasons, 2007 should be very interesting. But for now, what lay ahead for the Mustangs are the possibilities of a league title, a Division III CIF title and a state tournament berth, all goals they believe are achievable.

“For our team it’s going to be about staying focused for a whole match,” Stenett said. “Once we get more comfortable with the new girls we’ll be able to do really well. We definitely have the potential.”