The 2013-2014 high school girls volleyball season may have just begun, but they started preparing for this moment weeks before the season opener.
The team of 21 players and two coaches began their tough and challenging camp the week before school started. Each day the volleyball team had to be up and ready to practice from 6 to 8 a.m. and then again that same evening from 7 to 9 p.m.. In the words of Sophomore Hannah Leonberg, “[Camp week] was a lot of work. We worked out all morning and then came back to do volleyball training that night.” In order to be prepared for the upcoming season, athletes had to condition, run miles, work on skills and just flat out practice.
Both new and returning players are all working extremely well together as a team and unit. “For me personally, coming in as a new player was definitely a lot more work that I expected it to be, but the hard work was worth it,” Sophomore Haleigh Petersen said. With so much hard work and determination from both the players and coaches being shown each and every day, the team shouldn’t have any problems accomplishing their one simple goal: to win.
So far, the athletes haven’t suffered from any serious injuries. Although each player has had her fair share of bumps and bruises, these small issues won’t stop the girls from what they want to accomplish individually and as a team. According to Assistant Coach Kathy Ames, even with these minor problems, the girls keep pushing through because they want to have a successful season.
Overall, Ames is thrilled with the team’s progression as a whole. She just had one piece of advice to give to the team: to simply just have “patience with themselves, and push a little harder.”
According to Senior Courtney Cummins, there will always be challenges the team will face, and times when they might want to quit, but if they keep pushing through with their heads held high, they will do just fine.