Girls volleyball season has began. The team has 44 more matches until the sub-state tournament, and they are very optimistic about the season.

“I think we will progressively get better throughout the season with our coach being very experienced,” sophomore Jenna Phelps said.

The girls lost their first match to Louisburg, losing three out of five matches. However, there are those who remain optimistic about the rest of the season.

“It was the first game and we still played well. We have a lot of practice to do and a lot more games to play so I don’t feel very down about the loss last night,” senior Jessica Pollitt said.

The girls have put in work outside of school, practicing throughout the summer. There were open gyms and opportunities that the girls could participate in to strengthen their skills, including a camp in July. Some girls are also involved in off season teams.

“We had open gyms Monday through Thursday for a couple hours and we scrimmaged other teams on some Wednesday nights. We had some groups of four practices, with Zach on some mornings too, who was just kinda helping out while we didn’t have a coach all summer,” Pollitt said.

There is also a new head coach for the team, Matt Sonnichsen, playing for UCLA when it’s men’s volleyball team won the 1989 National Championship. He has played on national teams and has been a collegiate coach for multiple universities.

“He definitely know what he’s doing and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” Phelps said.

The girls next game is September 5th at East Mills High School at 6:30 PM. The girls will play their first home game on the 10th against Mt. Ayr.