After a grueling week of tryouts and training where nearly 30 failed to make the cut, 22 senior boys debuted as volleyball players during the week of Macho Man. Despite losing both games to Katy and Cinco Ranch, the event allowed participants to form new friendships despite only having played together for a short amount of time.
“I’ve seen people there that I’ve never seen in my life, and now I’m friends with them,” Orlando Ruiz ‘24 said.
Players considered the event to be a unifying, memorable experience. Teammates from different backgrounds who partake in different activities off the court were able to set aside their differences to perform as a team.
“I believe it helped a lot of guys from different sports and extracurriculars come together and be a team,” Peterson Darger ‘24 said. “We had a ton of fun.”
Elijah Betancourt ’24 sets the ball to Dallas-Patrick Suliafu ’24 so he can hit it over the net. Betancourt received MVP for Macho Man. “The Macho Man game was very high-paced with a lot of intensity,” Betancourt said.
(Lauren McNulty)
Select varsity girl’s volleyball players acted as coaches for the event and played a large role in keeping spirits high during games. Time-outs gave coaches the opportunity to emphasize the essence of enjoyment in the game, stressing that players were meant to relish the experience and execute the fundamentals with ease.
“During time-outs, I reminded everybody of all the basics and to stay calm,” coach Ella Koch ‘24 said. “However, the boys were really the main encouragement to each other.”
Players say they greatly value the help of their coaches. Leah Hoss ‘24, the setter coach, was instrumental in teaching players new skills and expanding their knowledge of volleyball.
“She was good at setting,” Noah McEntee ‘24 said, ”and she also had the most volleyball IQ.”
During games, the team encountered obstacles they were forced to overcome through teamwork and perseverance.
“I’d say the Cinco game was tougher because we had it in the first set, and then we struggled to find our rhythm in the later sets,” Kenneth Gregorski ‘24 said.
Stepping away from their traditional roles as players, the coaches were able to watch their team from the sidelines. During their brief time as coaches, they cherished watching players grow into volleyball players and hone their skills.
“My favorite part was watching all of them improve so much,” coach Addison Oglesby ‘24 said. “We only got a week, and it was really fun to see all of them get drastically better.”
