Volleyball season for girls seventh and eighth grade has just begun. The head coach is Melanie Smith and the assistant coach is Ashley Harvey. Practices are every weekday from 3-5 or 3-5:30 p.m. The girls are eager and excited to start the season especially since the jerseys are real this year instead of last year where the girls had to wear t-shirts.
“I think we will do the best with the time that we have had and we will continue to grow each practice and each game. I became a coach because Freedom was in need of an assistant. I played volleyball when I was growing up. I enjoyed the games and I just want to help the other girls enjoy the game the way I did. My favorite part is just seeing the girls, seeing what they start as at the beginning of the season and how they are at the end of the season. I love watching the girls. I made the decision, a comment had been made to me in the past. The girls would prefer to have jerseys, they would feel better, feel more like a team, if they had jerseys versus our t-shirts we used to have, so we got jerseys for the girls,” Melanie Smith, Head Coach of volleyball, said.
“I think practices are going good, seeing a lot of improvement, a lot of learning to still be done, but we are seeing improvement. Expecting to prepare the girls for the next level of play, which will be eighth grade and high school for the other girls, getting better with each season, more fundamentals, and more rounded players. Freedom needed an assistant coach, and here I am, it’s just the love of the game that’s all it is. Seeing improvement so far from week to week has been cool,” Ashley Harvey, Assistant Coach of volleyball, said.
“In this season of volleyball, I hope to improve my underhand and overhand serve because I haven’t mastered either. I think Coach Melanie is doing great, as I would expect her to as always and Coach Harvey is doing great for I think her first year. Some goals this season are to score a point by myself and to improve on my underhand serving.” Paisley Kozdra, a seventh-grade volleyball player, said.
“I hope to improve my setting this season. I think the coaches are doing pretty good, I think they need to be a little bit harder though. Some goals I have are to win at least 5 games and to have a bunch of great players.” Maddie Delasandro, eighth-grade volleyball player, said.
