It’s time to bump, set, spike; it’s officially volleyball season. This year is quite different for the volleyball teams. The seventh grade team only has seven girls, and the eighth grade team only has eight girls. This is a good thing, though, because this means that all the girls will have extra time to focus on their specific position.
For the first two weeks, practices were on Monday and Wednesday for eighth grade, Tuesday and Thursday for seventh grade, and Friday was a practice for all the girls. However, starting February 16, practice is all-girls, Monday through Friday, from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. Games will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school, with seventh-grade teams competing first at 3:30 p.m.and eighth-grade teams last at 4:30 p.m.
“I think volleyball is time-consuming, but I’m making memories with my friends, so it’s worth it. We tried our best at our first game and were looking forward to a good season. My favorite thing about practice is working on serving and getting to hang out with my friends. After our first game, I think we can improve on communication and working together,” Zofia Cipriani (8), volleyball player, said.
The girls think that the practices are time-consuming since they changed them. However, this does not stop them from saying they still enjoy the practices because they can participate in a sport they enjoy with their friends.
“I think our volleyball practice is fun, they are just extremely long. I think our game was really fun to play, but it was just really fast. My favorite thing about practice is playing games/scrimmages with my teammates. [I think we can improve] either communication, passing, or getting the ball to the setter,” Mikaylee Kuntz (7), volleyball player, said.
The coaches have noted seeing major differences in the girls’ playing skills this season. The coaches will continue to have open gyms in the winter and fall to help new players develop good skills.
“The difference in teaching fundamentals to students who have never touched the ball to playing for one year is dramatic. It was too difficult to try to teach two skill levels at the same time. I’m very pleased with the progress we have made. I thought the first game went very well, our seventh grade won in two sets, and our eighth grade had quite a few exceptional plays, and the games were very close,” Coach Melanie Smith, volleyball coach, said.
“I think practices are being well received, but it’s early in the season, so there is room for improvement. [I believe splitting up the practices has helped the girls because] it gave us coaches time to focus on the different skill levels. [The] first game was excellent for only having two weeks of practice. [To help the girls, I will be] enforcing the corrections that are given to the players.” Coach Ashley Harvey, volleyball coach, said.
