Varsity volleyball hosted their annual Volleypalooza tournament August 22-24. The team went 6-2 and placed 7th out of 64 teams. 

     “The August schedule has been tough to better prepare the girls for the pressure that comes with November,” Head Coach Jacob Thompson said. “Winning against Prosper and Hebron were our huge highs for the tournament and the season. Our next steps are to continue to improve on our first contact and getting mentally prepared for November.” 

     This year the volleyball programs motto is “Oderint Dum Metuant,” a Latin phrase meaning “let them hate, so long as they fear or respect.” 

     “We have gotten better at supporting each other and not berating others compared to last year,” Senior Maddie Butler said. “However, we still need to work on being accountable for our mistakes and being more consistent with our serves. My personal goal this year is to become more consistent hitting wise which means I have to work harder than everyone and some to achieve this.” 

     There are 18 girls on varsity this year which means there are several new faces on the team, one being Freshman Karley Black. Black started as a middle blocker in her first Volleypalooza. 

     “My first Volleypalooza was really fun,” Black said. “It was really cool when we were in the big gym and students would be coming in and out throughout the day. When they were there watching us they got really excited and made it so loud and fun.”

     Last year the team went 2-6 in the three day tournament and finished in the top 24, which seeded them very low for this year. However, they overcame their odds and placed in the top eight of the tournament to advance to the gold bracket.      

     “This sets us up for the season by allowing us to compete with high level teams, which will prepare us later on for playoffs where we will be facing extremely good competition,” Senior Reilly Heinrich said. “I see the team going far this year if we continue to play the way we are. We all have the same goal in mind and have our thoughts on Garland to return to the state tournament.”