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Sports Column: Looking at the Volleyball season so far

Sports Column: Looking at the Volleyball season so far
The volleyball team is headed to the playoffs after starting the year as a young team. They are tied for a first place district finish headed into Friday's match. (Keria Jinks photo)

At the beginning of the year the volleyball team’s expectations for the season were not very high.
“We are very young and inexperienced,” head volleyball coach Lyn Evans said at the start of the year.
Apparently the team didn’t like that too much, and they wanted to prove to everyone they are here to play and win. Now they are controlling their own destiny as they have already secured a playoff spot.
As time went along the team began working together and communicating better. This led to the team looking more mature and experienced every game.
“ We weren’t developed as a team early in the season,” senior Autumn Ellison said. “We didn’t have good chemistry but we gained it in the long run.”
So far the team has proven their inexperience on the varsity level is not a factor for getting in the win column. They have a current district record of 14-1. Their only loss came at the hands of Mansfield who took them to five games the second week of district. The team however bounced back defeating Mansfield last week in another five game battle where they finished them off in the last match with a big win.
“We should have beat them the first time, and we are going to beat them today,” Ellison said prior to their final meeting with Mansfield.
The team was furious that they allowed Mansfield to beat them. After the first loss to Mansfield, the Panthers improved mentally and physically. They also remained optimistic that they were actually the better team and were determined to avenge their loss.
“ Of course we are a better team we have changed so much and we can win,” senior Tiara Iwegbu said before the game.
After the game she had an even better opinion.
“ We did it,” she said. “We beat Mansfield.”
This game left the Panthers tied for first with Mansfield.
The two star players are Autumn Ellison and Tiara Iwegbu, have led them the entire year. Ellison has a total of 310 kills and averages four per game. Iwegbu has 271 and averages three per game. But they couldn’t do it alone. Because they get big help from their team they are where they are now. Now they headed to another playoff game.
“ I’m very proud of my team, we have come a long way.” Ellison said.

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