After finishing 13-17 overall and 2-6 in a revamped Mission League last year that added Marymount and Marlborough, the varsity girls’ volleyball team is looking to improve on its record and finish atop the league this year.
Despite losing seven former seniors to graduation, the squad has the leadership it needs to succeed with captains Zoe Baxter ’16 and Josephine Treadwell ’16. It is also developing young talent like freshman Chloe Mueller ’19.
“High school is such that we are going to have turnover every year,” Volleyball Program Head Adam Black said. “We’ve lost some key seniors in graduation, but we have this young crop stepping up who we think is pretty hungry. There are some new kids on varsity who are excited to make their mark, and that’s part of the excitement.”
The team has been practicing since July 27, and many of the players have competed for their respective club teams over the summer as well.
“We’ve been working for a while now; the preseason has been about working together, developing fundamentals as a team and being a really cohesive unit,” Setter Sophia van Iderstine ’17 said. “We will be really prepared for the season to come.”
The main emphasis in practice has been working on fundamentals to transition to a more offensive playing style that suits the team best.
“We are working hard at the fundamentals of the game, skill and technique, and spending time working on the things we believe are the most important: serving and passing,” Black said.
Although the Wolverines are looking forward to every game, the players are particularly excited about playing Mission League rivals, and the coaches are well aware.
“We’re most looking forward to playing our rivals, Notre Dame and Marymount,” Treadwell said. “We know a lot of the players at Marymount, so we’re looking forward to playing them.”
Even though the team has great expectations for the upcoming season with a new crop of talent and veteran leadership, it knows that success on the court starts with success in practice.
“We have a clear vision for this season,” Baxter said. “We’re trying to do all the little things, so day by day, we’re trying to improve at least 1 percent. We want to win league, but we realize that it’s about working really hard and coming to the gym really focused.”
Assistant coach Ryan Casey said that the team is striving to make every play count and put in the maximum amount of effort possible, in turn making the team more exciting to watch.
Approaching the start of the squad’s season, there is a sense of excitement among players and coaches about taking another crack at the new and improved Mission League.
“I think there’s going to be excitement from our team every time we step on the court,” Black said. “There’s excitement in the gym right now about getting better, there’s excitement in the gym about working hard and there’s excitement in the gym right now about playing with and for each other. And I think that excitement is going to be contagious for our community.”
