The varsity girls volleyball team played competitively on Sept. 21 though they struggled against Stonebridge, losing 0-3.
?I really like their energy and support for one another,? one father in the stands said during the game.
Captain and junior Christine LaBarbera said after the game, ?I think we are a better team than we played and we can learn from it and move on.?
This game puts the Lady Statesmen volleyball team at a record of two wins and three losses for the season so far.
The team is working hard to improve from last year?s season and gain more wins.
According to LaBarbera, ?Last year we had our ups and downs. It was kind of a building year.?
She added that although the team did not win, ?we had a lot of fun.?
This year the team received a brand new set of coaches including head varsity coach Frank Johnson.
Junior varsity (jv) player and sophomore Claudia Castaneda also commented on the new coaches, ?They have given us a new experience. They know what they?re talking about, and after all the workouts, everyone has abs.?
Varsity player and junior Laura King said, ?The new coaches have definitely helped our team because this year they?re a lot more organized. It?s my third year playing and this is the first time we have fund-raising and the first time freshman and [jv] players have the opportunity to move up to varsity.?
?The new coach is really big on building the program and working with freshman and jv and not only varsity. We are really bonding more on all three levels,? LaBarbera said.
Along with the improvements from the new coaches comes the ?growing pains? that a team must go through according to Johnson.
?Whenever you have turnover in leadership, there is going to be a transition period that our players need to get acclimated to,? Johnson said.
Nonetheless, Johnson agreed that the seaon is going well.
? I am already seeing a lot of improvement six weeks into the season. We have a lot of individual talent in place on each of the three teams,? Johnson said.
?Now it?s just putting the right pieces together, building team chemistry, instilling discipline, focus and toughness in each of the girls, and getting the girls to have confidence in themselves,? he added.
Besides having new coaches, the varsity team also has a young team due to the seven seniors that graduated last year, resulting in the return of only four varsity players.
The current varsity team includes five seniors, six juniors, three sophomores and one freshman.
However, the youth of the team is not looked at as a disadvantage, rather as a benefit to the team. The youth along with new coaching should lead to a successful future.
?I think it?s an advantage because now we can build up over the years and be strong in a few years,? LaBarbera said.