As I start up the court, I think about the game I am about to conquer right before my eyes. The game of volleyball has always been on the high end of my likings. I have been playing for several years and when I was sent a notice about upcoming tryouts I jumped at the opportunity. Tryouts were just as expected: vigorous and scary. As you could assume, a lot of freshmen fear the older kids. On a good note, they were very high level competitors which made tryouts oozing with more fun through competition. The coaches all watch carefully and closely, and it seems like they only see you when you do poorly. At the end of tryouts everyone was itching to see if they had made JV, Varsity, or the freshman team. At this point I was wary about making any team whatsoever, but I had a very negative attitude at the end of that day. I had been notified with making the freshman team, which was a pleasant surprise for me.
As the season started off, we got to know the limited 9 players that made the team along with coach. Getting to know coach Candace was well worth everyone’s time. She has improved the volleyball skills of my entire team tremendously. My serving, passing, and communication skills are improving throughout the season. We put all of our efforts into every game and so far we are undefeated. The games we play make us nervous, but we always manage to shake off the nerves and bump, set, and spike every ball and obstacle that comes our way. There is no one person that carries the team; it is everyone’s skills put together that lead us down the road of victory.
The games consist of cheering, preparation, and energy. We start by setting up the chairs and net because we do not depend on anyone else to do what we need. We make sure we get what we need to get done before anyone gets there. When the officials and the other team enter we show great sportsmanship towards them to represent our school and our team. We have positive attitudes and use them for every game. If someone on the team is in a bad mood we all pitch in to cheer them up. We do not act like 9 strangers, we unite as one, as a team, and as the family of jags that we are.
By Sage Klingensmith