Varsity:
OHS girls’ volleyball started the year off strong with a full program sweep–each team taking home a victory against Millennium High School. This is the start of a long season, but these girls are headed on the right track together.
However, this was Varsity’s second win of the season—having won against Valley Vista previously. Most of the girls, having returned from previous years, described their team as strongly bonded. The connection between the team is like no other. Many have referred to their team as a “Sisterhood.”
“I believe in this team especially, since O’Connor is a sisterhood–that’s a big word for us. We believe and trust each other on the court,” said Layla Duran, senior.
The team is united and work together to reach their main goal which is winning.
“Everybody was brought together as one,” Duran said.
Everyone comes together, which is easy for these girls as they expressed the comfortability they have toward each other; setbacks do not hold them down.
“We have each other’s backs, and we know that if we’re down we can get back up,” said Ahvah Florance-Littles, freshman.
JV:
Along with varsity, JV is also starting this year off tremendously well. Having already played together, they have a true connection and show nothing but excitement for the upcoming season.
“Our connections and communication are really coming around. I can’t wait to go against our rival teams,” said Kira Bunger, sophomore.
These connections did not form quickly, but now the team was able to grow, and most importantly, communicate with one another. These bonds help when the game is not in their favor; they have their ways of getting out of their slump.
“[When we get upset] we take a breath between the points and just talk in the huddle about what to do next–that usually helps,” Bunger said.
Refocusing their mind with the help of their teammates, they are able to stick to the game and devise a plan to win, putting the stress aside.
“We can talk each other out of it and help each other focus on the next point. We’re really good with communicating that way,” Hanrath said.
Freshman:
Freshman joins JV and varsity in their victory, while also being the first game these girls have played together. This is just the beginning, with many great things to come in the near future.
“As a team, we all were very hype and provided a lot of energy, which helped with our teamwork. We jelled as a team,” said Gianna Preciado, freshman.
Competing with new people for the first time is not easy, but the freshman team was lucky enough to have formed such a tight bond this early in the season.
“We work together really well, and even though we’ve never played together before, we have a good kind of strength. We all have good chemistry,” said Reese Hunt, freshman.
A new team is bound to make many mistakes and experience setbacks, but it is important to have efficient ways to move on and grow, eliminating the funk and getting back on their feet.
“We played hard, and when our coach asked us to fix something, we did, and I think that helped us all perform very well,” Preciado said.
Coachability is a valuable trait, especially when wanting to grow skillsets. With time, mistakes and habits will be fixed, and the next game will have been performed even better than their last.
“There’s still things we should fix, of course, but overall we did really well for our first game,” Hunt said.
