After ending last year’s season on a high note, many are wondering if the varsity girls volleyball team will replicate their victory this year. The loss of nine seniors on the team seems like a crushing blow, yet the head coach feels that the team is still ready for the season.

 “We have a blended group of those players that were here last year at our state championship team, so i’m confident we will have a good season,” head coach Juanita Hitt said. 

The team is currently 3-1, with their only loss against Lyman. They quickly came back and beat the Lake Howell Silver Hawks in all three sets. 

“Going into the game I was feeling super excited, and I was ready to play,” setter Katie Reed said. 

The season is already setting itself apart from the one prior; aside from new COVID policies, the team’s members must work to compensate for those who left.

“We had a huge amount of height in the front row last year, but we are definitely not going to let that affect us for this season,” setter Kyla Mullen said. 

The second set of the game seemed to be the most challenging for the players. That is what they thought was the biggest challenge of the whole game, was the second set.

“Lake Howell fought a little harder which made us push a little more,” Mullen said. 

To add onto Mullen’s statement, Reed mentioned that the biggest challenge of the evening was how “scrappy” Lake Howell played, which she wasn’t expecting. The team prioritizes unity and communication when it comes to games. Athletes find that communication especially is important.

“Our biggest strength is that we play as one, and we always have each other’s back,” Mullen said.

The team felt they did well tonight against the Lady Hawks. Hitts feels optimistic about the future of the season.

“They ran solid tempos and overall as a team, they looked pretty good for their third game of the season,” Hitts said. “We could have done a little bit better blocking, but overall, it was a good game.”