The girls’ varsity volleyball team has maintained its momentum from last season and is looking even more promising this year. The team currently has a 17-5 record overall and 4-0 in conference.
Though the season is far from over, they have already had some standout performances. Senior defensive specialist Juliana Padavic recounts their win over Sandburg.
“We ended up blowing them out, which was really exciting because for the past five years we haven’t won to them,” Padavic said.
Padavic acknowledges the team’s growth. “We are really showing up, knowing our potential, and actually being able to prove ourselves,” Padavic said.
Although the wins are exciting, it all stems from practice. The girls practice six days a week for about two and a half hours. Their practices consist of laps, dynamics, warmups, ball control and specific drills chosen by the coaches depending on their last game.
The effort that the team has put in has been showcased in certain areas that they’re trained in, Coach Madisen Babich reveals that they have grown most in their offense.
“We are becoming less predictable to the opponents blocking system, we are finding different ways to score and using different routes for our attackers, moving them around along the net in all three spots,” Babich said.
Improving their offense from last year has made them a highly competitive team to look out for when state series rolls around.
Additionally, the team has the advantage of keeping the majority of their starters from last season. They saw what it took to get as far as they did the previous year, allowing them to bond and grow because of that experience.
Senior setter Niya Mincheva values the chemistry within the team.
“I just think we really support each other, we cheer each other on, there’s no selfishness this season, [and] everyone is very hand-in-hand,” Mincheva said.
The final part that shapes their team is their team motto this year of, “it’s not OK”. The motto promotes accountability, hard work, determination and precision. It is the topic of conversation after every game, win or lose, to continue to motivate the girls to achieve their goals.
“We go back to the motto, ‘it is not OK’, we have beneficial open conversations as a team post games, whether we win or lose, teammates all have a voice to one another, which is nice to hear their genuine thoughts, feelings, and opinions after games,” Babich said.
