Girls’ Volleyball Ends Set for Another Season

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Photo Courtesy of Coach Nixon

Our girls varsity volleyball team play home against Westminster on September 28th, 2021.

Antonio Heras and Wendy Rodriguez

The girls volleyball team finally had the chance to come back and play the sport they love after almost two years of school closures.

According to Coach Jenevieve Nixon, the team started practice during the summer to prepare for the upcoming season. It was an adjustment since COVID-19 screening was mandatory on a daily basis. On top of that, the transition from virtual school to in-person was difficult. That included trouble breathing in the masks while practicing. 

Nixon is excited.

“I finally got to see all the kids on campus and be back to some sense of normal,” said Nixon. 

Senior, Maryann Milan, who plays setter and opposite, feels the same way. 

“It felt great considering I got to be back with my teammates and not everything was virtual,” said Milan. 

Out of the 18 games they played, they won six games, two of which were non league and four of which were league games.

But, the wins did not come easy. These girls endured some major challenges throughout their season.

There was managing their time between practices and games and their school work.

Varsity captain, Arely Casillas is one of those students.

“It was hard because we had practice quite often so we had to leave classes early and I did fall behind a little bit, but I think we all adjusted nicely,” said Casillas.

According to Nixon, there are two captains per team. One of them is selected by their coach and the other one is selected by their teammates. Captains carry the responsibility of leading in warmups for practice, communicating important announcements, and passing around a signup sheet for snacks before game time.

Starting varsity middle blocker, Arely Casillas, is awarded the final GRIT ball of the season for her outstanding performance against Westminster. (Photo Courtesy of Coach Nixon)

Three players were quarantined right before the start of league games.

“I missed two weeks of school, two weeks of practice, and two weeks worth of games,” said Milan.

Nevertheless, that didn’t stop them from winning both of rivalry games against Segerstrom High School.

“In our last game against Segerstrom, the points were really different. We didn’t wreck them, but we technically beat them by a lot of points, so I thought it was a good game considering it was our rivalry game,” Milan added.

The end of the volleyball season officially ended on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021. The frosh team were undefeated, making them League Champions. The junior varsity team ended in second place. And, the varsity team placed fourth place overall.

“We really improved from the summer to now. The girls really enjoyed the fact that we are back on the court and are capitalizing on that fact,” said Nixon. 

For Casillas, she is sad that the season has ended.

“I know our future team is in good hands. I couldn’t be any happier to be apart of such a great team. I will deeply miss playing with my favorite people,” said Casillas.