givingback senior

Bursting with enthusiasm, the varsity volleyball team celebrated an exciting home win against one of their biggest rivals. With a final score of 3-2, the girls defeated Ransom Everglades on Sept. 12.

The first set was a very close one, but the Raiders ended up losing 25-23. To ensure a better second set, captain Hailey Brenner shared some motivational words during their break.

“I told them to refocus and that we all knew that we were the better team, so we should not have been in that predicament in the first place. It was a wake up call to get our stuff together,” Brenner said.

The team took the words to heart and improved drastically in both skill and confidence in the second set, taking the win with a score of 25-17.

“We worked better together and we communicated more. We have a strong chemistry on and off the court, because most of us have played together for a long time, and we also did some team building before the season,” senior Jade Garcia said.

The girls took time out of their busy practice schedule to teach children from the We Stand For Kids, Silent Victims of Crime organization how to play volleyball. They taught them the essentials like passing, setting, and serving. “I decided to help these children whose parents are in prison because I know how important it is for these children to feel included in a community, feel loved, and to have fun,” junior Maya Pace said. The children seemed to enjoy the activity and there were smiles all around. “Many of the kids did not even want to let go of the volleyballs, and when they had to leave, all they wanted to do was keep playing. This event not only benefited the kids, but the girls on the team as well. I felt so much joy while interacting with and coaching them. Watching their faces light up while playing volleyball is so rewarding for me,” Pace said. Photos provided by Maya Pace

The girls suffered another tough loss in the third set with a score of 25-21. This was where they hit a realization that they needed to set forth their best work.

“We all know how to play volleyball, so that was not the problem; it was our mindsets that were not where they should have been,” senior Alessandra Genovese said.

Again, the girls huddled together during their break between the sets to try and fix the problem they were having.

“When we all came to the realization that the mood was dead, we hyped each other up so that we could build up our mindset. More positive energy is what made us play better,” Brenner said.

The girls ended up making a comeback, dominating the last two sets and securing the victory.

“It felt really good to win because they are one our school’s biggest rivals, and we have not beat them in four years, so winning this gave us a lot of confidence for the future games,” Garcia said.