The game was about to start and the bleachers around the court were filled to the brim with people that were eager to cheer for their volleyball team. Everyone was excited to see which of the schools would achieve the victory, every person there betting that their own school would do just that. At this point the game was starting and everyone was watching as the girls took their position on the volleyball court, eagerly waiting for the ball to get served. The team that had the dark red uniform served the ball first, and boy did they serve that ball.
The volleyball team is full of prestigious girls that always play the game to win and give it their all every single time that they are on the court. Competing is always going to be a challenge for every single athlete that is out there right now, but the volleyball girls always make sure that they compete in the best way that they can against their competitors. With a coach like Allison Merrell, PALS teacher and volleyball coach, they are sure to compete very well too.
“ I loved to compete, and volleyball really does that for me. So just being able to compete, but also the day to day relationships with the kids is really what drives me,” said Merrell.
Competing in volleyball is one of the most fulfilling and encouraging things for one to do. With a team that players can build a close and familiar family relationship with, and a coach that is encouraging and teaches one to reach for higher accomplishments and goals, that perfectly describes the volleyball team. With a head coach like Merrell, the players are able to fully understand their court and continue to excel.
“Teaching volleyball alongside my assistant coaches and seeing the girls progress from the beginning to the end of seasons and seeing how much they have grown and how much their relationships with each other have deepened is something that I love about coaching volleyball,” said Merrell.
The girls in volleyball are also learning and excelling on their path through the zero-gravity sport. With the season just starting and all of the girls already excelling and reaching high ambitions, the season is already off to a great start.
“I think that the season is going well. I feel like we made a lot of big changes in a short amount of time and like we really all adapted well to those changes and that’s been making our season really good,” said senior Cealyn Dumas, team captain.
Although volleyball does have a lot of concepts that allow someone in it to accomplish and gain many things from it, the game itself can still be very difficult.
“The hardest part about being in volleyball is learning how to manage your time and also building the best relationships that you can because you have to be around these girls everyday,” said senior Erica Dellesky, team captain.
With many things changing from last year and other things returning to volleyball, there are also some things that are noteworthy. One of the most significant competitions to the look of it this year are Cinco Ranch and Seven Lakes.
“There are nerves every time before we play, but I think that I enjoy the routine of what we do before we get on the court. For some time, I go by myself and get away from everybody for about 5-10 minutes and just think about our strategies, all the things that we want to accomplish, and our game plan and just take a deep breath and the anxiety is gone and the confidence comes in,” said Merrell.
The volleyball team also has some returning starters this year, senior Erica Dellesky, junior Brooklyn Merrell, sophomore Callie Funk, and junior Simi Elliot are all some returning starters who each have one or three years of experience in volleyball. With returning starters, there is also one significant change that happened this volleyball season. The volleyball team also received a new move in, Dumas.
