As the season progresses, the volleyball team continues to push ahead and set new standards for the school. The players have pushed through this year’s preseason, currently standing at a record of [3-9]. The team has gone through preseason supporting each other and spreading positivity.

“I try to do a lot of encouraging,” senior captain Audrey Rodriguez said. “I’ll tell them what they could use improvement on and what they are doing really good.”

The volleyball team unifying as one, both as a team and a family, improves their relationships on the court. Forming bonds among players helps improve cooperation in the game before district play begins on Friday, Sept. 13 against Marcus.

“We are family,” head volleyball coach Cara Sumpter said. “Being together and working with each other on and off the court [are tactics we use].”

Despite being a young team, the volleyball program has continued to push the expectations for themselves. This year, the team added a tournament where the players stayed in a hotel together for a weekend away from home. This allowed for the team to bond and gain experience playing together on the court.

“Well we’ve had our ups and downs this year,” Sumpter said. “It ended up going very well they went [5-4] for it and got a lot of stuff done.”

 Caring about each other is essential to being a unified team. With an inexperienced team, the players work together to build stronger connections on and off the court. 

“Whenever I see a teammate down, I really like to help bring them back up,” junior Cristina Hernandez said. “If they make a mistake, I try to stay positive and help them get out of their head.”