Saraya Angbazo ’25 is serving.
Sophie Holten ’25 powerfully spikes the ball.
Girls Volleyball started its season off strong at home last Saturday, securing the victory against Dana Hall. The team was able to work well with each other on the court and keep the energy up, taking all three sets.
Going into the game the team mostly worked on its connection together on the court. While it did work on some serve-receives, Selene Xu ’27 described how the majority of time was spent strengthening the team dynamic.
“It’s the beginning of the season, so we didn’t focus on one thing. We were just working together as a team and figuring out how we can work better together. Skill-wise, probably just serve receives. I do think we had great serve receives. To be clear, we didn’t focus on a lot of stuff. We just wanted to build our teamwork together,” said Xu.
Additionally, Xu mentioned how the team got off to a slow start, but further along in the match, powerful hits and more consistent play brought the squad’s enthusiasm up.
“I feel like the first set wasn’t that great. And then, going into the second half of the first set, it wasn’t a specific point, but it might have been a few kills. Also, in the second set, there were a few back-row hits that were really amazing. It brought our whole team’s spirit and energy up,” said Xu.
Gracie Aziabor ’26 commended Co-Captian Sophie Holten ’25 for her ability to perform under pressure. Noting how as a leader, Holten was able to motivate the team through her energy and passion.
“She’s the Captain of our team, our Co-Captain, and I think in this game, and I’ve seen it in the past couple of scrimmages, it was really awesome to see how well she functioned under pressure in live game, and how well she commanded her teammates, brought the energy, and played really well under pressure,” said Aziabor.
Xu also applauded Aziabor for her versatility on the court. Despite this being her first year on the team, Aziabor used her enthusiasm to boost her teammates.
“I thought Gracie did really well. Last year, she was on JV, and this year was her first year on Varsity. I feel like she really brought the energy up and played a lot of positions that she wasn’t familiar with, like right side. I think she did really well overall,” said Xu.
Manager Malcolm Tolbert ’26 first noted the impact of the home court advantage on the energy of the game. Both the crowd and the energy on the bench contributed to a lively environment.
“I was super impressed with the crowd that came. Volleyball doesn’t always attract the biggest crowd, but the [spirit] was really good and the bench energy was also really good. Everyone was yelling their heads off for their team and it was a really great experience because everyone was super happy, super excited to be playing at their first home opener this season,” Tolbert said.
Despite the makeup of the team consisting of a significant number of new players, Aziabor noted her teammates’ shared love for volleyball and how that translates into a strong team bond. In addition to that, she noted the team’s ability to adapt to the play of different competitors.
“One of the strengths was energy. It’s a fairly new team; a decent amount of the people who are team members weren’t on the team last year. So we’re definitely still trying to find team chemistry. I think we’re working really well to keep the energy and keep the hype up. We all really love playing volleyball; the energy’s really infectious on the court. Another thing is adaptability. I think we’re doing a great job of adjusting to how our opponents are playing and reading them better,” said Aziabor.
Looking ahead, Tolbert believes the team will work on setter positioning and offense in preparation for its game against Hotchkiss.
“Something that we want to continue working on is our out-of-system plays. Those are plays when it’s not necessarily the setter setting the ball or the setter isn’t setting the ball from the setter’s spot. And, a lot of times, when that happens, it results in a free ball, which is a really easy ball for the opponent. I think something that will be worked on is trying to find offense from those unlikely positions,” said Tolbert.
Girls Volleyball will face Hotchkiss at home in its upcoming match this Saturday.
