Luna Sato
The beginning of the new school year also saw the start of the 2018 volleyball season. On a hot mid-summer day, twenty seven players and managers, along with the two coaches walked into the gym, ready to play. For some of us, especially the freshmen and the new players, it may have been a chilling experience, seeing the experienced players smack at the ball, but for many of us, it was what motivated us the entire season. Practice kicked off with skills training, which lead us to our first game. Our weaknesses were identified in this first game, which unfortunately we weren’t able to win. However, this gave us the inspiration for future games. In the practices then on, we focused on our weaknesses, especially in our rotations and in passing, and made those areas into our strengths.
As the season neared the end, we started to be able to play in games as we do in practices despite the pressure, and gained the mentality to keep going regardless of the score. Thanks to our coach, Mr. Dixon, for drilling in the positivity in our minds – we were able to conclude our last official game before the tournament with our first victory, against BST. We had beat them 2-0 . This gave us the confidence for the tournament, and we were able to win against YIS, 2-0. As we had a very tight game against them earlier in the season, but resulted in a loss, this definitely measured our growth throughout the season.
Every member of the team was able to take something positive out of the season, whether that was a skill in volleyball or a positive mindset. This volleyball season, not only were we able to improve as a player on the court, but as a teammate and as a person. Through our playing, we were reminded that being supportive of each other and helping out when teammates need the help are the key to making a great team.