The volleyball season wrapped up during Districts at Holden High School. Unfortunately, the girls lost that game against Summit Christian, but they still had a successful season. The varsity team finished with an 11-8 record, and the JV team finished with an 8-6 record.
“We had a good and competitive season. Both JV and Varsity finished with records that really improved from last year,” said Head Coach Chloe Foster. “The girls showed a lot of fight, and I’m super proud of them.”
“It was a fun season,” says Cam Westphal ‘25. “It was interesting to have new people on the team and continue to build from last season when we lost six seniors.” Loch Beagle agrees, saying, “We won a lot more games than I was expecting, and everyone put in a lot of effort come game time.”
“Honestly, I’m already ready to go for next season,” says Coach Foster. “We’re gonna have six returning seniors on both teams, and it’s going to be really exciting.”
The volleyball teams were also able to accomplish several goals they’d set for themselves at the beginning of the season. “One of the biggest things we wanted was to have a winning record, and both teams accomplished that,” said Coach Foster. “Another thing we did was win every game where we went to five sets, which is a really really hard thing to do in volleyball. We finished third in our conference, too, which was challenging since we have a competitive conference. I think we surprised a lot of teams after last year, and it was super cool to see.”
“I’m really proud of the progress we made as a team this season,” says team captain Haley Greenwood ‘24. “As the only senior, my job was to set up the team for success next season, and I think I did that. I wish we could’ve gone a little further in the postseason, but they’ll get there next year.”
“Volleyball is a very mental sport,” says Coach Foster. The biggest obstacle the players had to overcome this season was their mentality. “At the beginning of the year, they were much more timid. They were definitely excited to play because they knew they had talent, it just took some time before they really started to believe in themselves more,” she adds.
“We got better towards the end of the season and we melded really well as a team. We had a lot of fun,” says Westphal. Greenwood agrees, saying, “Everyone was super nice to each other, and blended really well. We all made best friends through the team and continued to grow existing friendships. It was a really supportive environment, and practices were productive but entertaining.” “It was cool to see them grow their mental toughness as the season progressed,” explained Coach Foster.
This season, “everyone just generally improved. We started pretty consistently getting three touches on the ball before sending it back over and started to hit more by the end of the season,” says Beagle. “Our communication was really good. We were able to try new things, like Alise and Adele learned how to do a six and scored some points for us in games,” says Westphal. “A lot of players don’t play club,” says Greenwood. “This is the only time they get to improve their skills and adjust to new positions that they hadn’t played before.”
Their mentality also, of course, helped them improve this season. “We got motivation from each other, and no one really was playing for themselves. We were playing for each other, and it made it special when we played hard games,” says Greenwood. “My teammates helped me achieve success by supporting and encouraging me,” agrees Beagle. “Our amazing coaches helped, too,” says Westphal.
Next season, Coach Foster looks forward to the players growing their potential. Hayley has some advice for the returning senior players, “It’s so different because you cherish the moment so much more. Everything really feels like a gift because you’re doing what you love with the people you care about. Be excited to take on more leadership roles on the team. It’s special to not only be a part of the team but also be a captain.”
Looking to next season, Coach Foster wants the community to know that it really does help “when fans come to games. This year at a game against Van Horn, we were down in the fourth set and the players were struggling to come back. The fans helped them though by bringing that energy to be able to win that fifth set. Volleyball is becoming a huge sport, and the love and support is still important. Come on out and watch it even if you don’t know anything about it. We’d be happy to teach you!”
