Varsity volleyball's first game lost, but won in other ways!

After weeks of working together in camps and pre-season, our first game brought a lot of new situations for the girls that both coaches believe they adapted to tremendously well. We worked hard on developing the personal foundational skills that will continue to make collaboration on the court easier for the team! 
There were a few moments of struggle primarily with rotations and our places on the court, but they took huge leaps towards improvement that will only continue to get easier and more intuitive for them throughout the season. 
We had some great leadership skills from every single teammate!
Emerson Smith and Tessa Stankiewicz did great as the floor captains for the first game and stayed positive and helpful for everyone else on and off the court. Emerson really did great on defense and serve receive, and Tessa had particularly great swings on the outside! We had some great moments from Oliva Zanetti, one of the newest members of the team, who brought some skills and intelligence into play- particularly some 'setter dump' moments that resulted in points! 
Helen Rich as a newly trained setter and in her first year on varsity really is growing into the setter position. She is smart and engaging, knowing where she needs to be and what her role is- and if she doesn't know, she askes! That is a great attitude to have as a setter. 
We had a great moment between Helen and Stella Frisbee, who are our youngest members on the team, where Helen set Stella, and Stella had a great arm swing that led to a kill!! As coaches, we were extremely excited to see that type of play coming from our youngest and newest players. Stella returned to the team only this past Tuesday, and in the two days of practice had to learn the rotations and transitions as a Middle Blocker- Not an easy feat! She did a great job and we can see her improvements happening so fast! 
Maddie White as her first year on varsity brings so much positivity and care into our team and on the court. She is a fast learner and really excels in any position we put her in. Although she struggled with overhand serving, she very quickly and confidently made an in-game adjustment to underhand serving that brought us a great run of 5 points in a row! 
Lela George is a very versatile player and we are excited to see where she develops. We are currently training her in Outside hitter and as a setter, which are two very different positions! This past game she played outside, and gave the team some really great serves and energy! 
Lexie Lampka has the right kind of energy and attitude that excels at being a Defensive Specialist and Libero, where she brought those skills into the game subbing in the back row for Lela. Every day she comes to practice happy and eager to learn so we noticed a lot of great improvement in her specialized position of last night's game. 
Like Lexie, Gracie Meriwether also has that right type of attitude that excels at being a DS and Libero. Our first game had her in the Libero position and she really is coming into her own as a true leader of the back row. There were a few moments when our team got confused by the lines on the court at Valor, as they are different places than they are in our gym. I mentioned this to Gracie once and she made adjustments, adapted, and got in the right position, then proceeded to help others around her be in the right position too. I can really see her continuing to do very well in the Libero position! 

Overall as a team, we did great at communicating and hustling towards each ball in each play. This aspect of the game alone will continue to grow the team and each player succeed. 
As coaches, we recognize why and how we 'lost', and understand how we can turn our next meeting with Valor into a WIN!