With just one senior on the volleyball team this year, the team looks to make a statement to the league and state with a younger looking squad. With the talent that head coach Kyla Henry has seen this preseason and offseason, it’s no doubt the team is ready to win games and go for the state playoffs.
Henry pointed out the impact of the amount to seniors the team lost this year. However, she is liking how the younger team is playing and practicing so far.
“We’re kinda starting from the beginning,” Henry said. “Everyone is working hard this season, and they’re coachable and understanding,”
Junior Captain Clara Gordon also recognized how young and new the team looks. Pointing out that just five of the varsity athletes are returners. .
“Considering that, our team has adjusted extremely well,” Gordon said.
Junior Captain Lily Mae Buerkle is very hopeful regarding the team’s success this year, considering the amount of seniors the team lost.
“We’ve been working a lot on building and getting those connections between returners and new people,” Buerkle said. “I feel optimistic about the season. We can definitely do a lot if we get down to it.”
According to Buerkle, the team had four hour-long tryouts this season, buidling team chemistry. Along with having summer workouts, that helped introduce many new freshmen into the volleyball program.
“It’s good for especially younger players like new freshmen coming in,” Buerkle said. “They get to meet people and have familiar faces when they start the season.”
Gordon also pointed out how well the team chemistry becomes even without practices or events.
“Our varsity team has always been very good at meshing, even though we don’t have much going on in the summer other than open gyms and workouts,” Gordon said.
The team has set some specific goals for this season. Junior Chloe Tran expressed the team wanting to place high in the Portland Interscholastic League (PIL) this year.
“Our goal for this whole season is to get second in the PIL,,” Tran said. “We’ve always been third for the past two years, so this year would be a great year for us to step it up.”
Gordon also acknowledged the attempt to get second in the PIL this year, along with some other team goals.
“This season we need to be good at working on our skills, controlling the controllables and then fighting to get second in the PIL,” Gordon said.
Another goal expressed by the players and coach Henry is to beat the main four opponents. That being Grant, Ida B. Wells, Lincoln, and Cleveland. Mainly because there has been recent history in these four matchups.
“We have never in the history of McDaniel or Madison beat Wells or Grant. I think a couple years ago, we beat Cleveland for the first time in 20 years, and not last season, but the season before, we beat Lincoln for the first time. So we’re trying to beat these four top teams,” Henry said.
According to Gordon, something the team needs to focus on is growing confidence, especially with a younger team.
“Our team needs to focus on once that play is over, it’s over, and it’s time to move on to the next point,” Gordon said. “It can be really intimidating to play a team that are full of senior girls that are 6’2” because we don’t have any tall players,”
Some players to look out for this season, according to Henry, are junior Lily Mae Buerkle, senior Anna Gladwin, junior Clara Gordon, junior Chloe Tran, sophomore Piper Glass, and sophomore Laney Ivester.
With great upper-class leadership and growing team chemistry, along with specific but achievable goals, the varsity volleyball team looks ahead, attempting to conquer the PIL and other teams ahead.
