The newest volleyball season has officially come to an end. With all of the new players and new strategies since previous years, this new season presented many challenges to the volleyball team. With their unwavering grit and perseverance, they found a way to navigate the season successfully.
Even so, they have made it through defeats earlier in the season, some beginning to think these losses defined them. Later, the Marshfield volleyball team persevered against all odds, and they managed to break through their defeats and arrive at the 4A State Championships. Ultimately, this year’s volleyball program definitely turned heads; they were capable of overcoming defeats, celebrating wins, and making their school and their community very proud.
“I really enjoyed this volleyball season,” said team freshman Tia Rieber. “Being able to play with my cousin was very nice. And I just love playing volleyball. It’s my passion.”
This volleyball team didn’t get its talent just by coincidence; every big outcome meant smaller victories behind the scenes. Practices teach players perseverance and self-discipline; these aspects will build strength in the players mentally and physically, leading them down the road to even more exciting events.
Practices are also the key aspect of how they get their roles, and play them down to perfection. This means that with a lot of talent comes a lot of training. Basic volleyball techniques are the main focus of traditional practices, but what some don’t know is that to play fast-paced sports, all muscles in a player’s body need to be almost perfect to move forward with practices and games. Practices also consist of different types of intense muscle training routines. All of this teaches the girls to proceed with perseverance, grit, and resilience.
“Towards the beginning of the season, we had to run a lot more and get into shape, which is good. And it’s pretty fun,” said junior Kaia Mahaffy. “Yeah, practice is pretty fun, getting to interact with each other.”
Also, fun needs to be thrown into the mix. Specifically, bus rides. Told by many athletes: Bus rides home are the best part of being on a team, and where they will always be creating memories. The team has picked up a sort of tradition about bus rides. When a team goes to either a very important game or a state championship, it is normal for the buses to be decorated. Usually, the culprits of this case are students of Marshfield, sending a message to their student athletes, and friends that they have their support, and team spirit to help them through the game. These specific cases are often fun for the school and the athletes, riding along to great wins and titles.
Marshfield’s volleyball team has an assortment of coaches willing to get their girls to the top. Specifically, varsity head coach Tammy Montiel has the experience to lead the volleyball team to the state championships. Montiel played volleyball herself in her high school years, and she was granted the head coaching position on the high school team years ago. In her time as coach, she has taken the girls to the state championships many times, and they won state two of those years. In the school and community’s eyes, it is, without a doubt, a very impressive feat to have been through.
“Yeah, I think our coaches are so happy with us, because without them I don’t think we would’ve made it as far as we did,” said sophomore Caroline Knutson. “I just think they are so proud of us.”
Coming to the end of the volleyball teams’ season was the 4A OSAA State championships. This is already a very popular event amongst volleyball connoisseurs, and this year, it made the volleyball state championships so much more exciting and accessible. This year, the state championships were held at Marshfield High School. Not only did MHS players get to play in the championships, but they also got to play on home turf, where they were most comfortable. This also led to more students, parents, and community members packing the stands to come watch the game, cheering them on.
However, even with everyone at their side, Marshfield unfortunately lost its first game against The Dalles. This shattered not only their spirits, but also their chances of making it to the finals. Even so, they pushed forward, with their coaches and teammates by their side. Marshfield went on to win its next three games, which gave it a much higher ranking position against other teams. In the end, the Marshfield volleyball team placed fourth at the state championships.
“The first couple of games were scary in front of the big crowd, but by the time we made it to the state tournament,” said team captain Mackenzie Fitzgerald-Thornton. “I personally was more focused on my opponent and doing my best for myself and my team than caring about the crowd size.”
As in previous years, the seniors of the team were an asset to the team’s success–they have the most experience playing volleyball. But they also have a responsibility to keep the team united and play their roles to the best of their ability. As team captains, they make the shots, and they, along with their coach, decide what’s best for the team. Team captains are supposed to be role models, fit for younger athletes to look up to as a sort of goal that they strive to become.
“I believe as a senior on the team that I had an impact, leaving behind traditions and hopefully high expectations to fill,” said Fitzgerald-Thornton. “I also hope that going to the state tournament was a fun experience for our younger girls who got to swing up because it’s an experience that not everyone gets to experience.”
