Sophomore Ola Ekundayo winds up taking her serve. She knows if she messes up, it could cost the team the game. With the varsity women’s volleyball team’s move to the A conference, the pressure is on.

This year, the team has moved into the A conference after winning the B conference championship three years in a row. So far the team’s record is five wins and four losses.

“It has been a rough introduction and our team has a lot of disadvantages,” varsity coach Greg Cullison said.

“The biggest difference is the level of playing with hitting and passing,” senior Elise Adamson said.

According to Cullison, other schools are bigger and their players all belong to club teams during the off season. To build up the program, Cullison is trying to start a club team that the girls can join so they will “always be playing together all year round.”

“It’s my first year on varsity and even with the new move to the A conference, it’s still a lot of fun and I look forward to the rest of the season,” Ekundayo said.

According to Cullison, for the rest of the season JC is evenly matched with his opponents. “We had a few chances against which we could have done better,” Cullison said.

The move to the A conference was a change, and this year the number of players trying out changed, as well. “This was the first year we ever had to cut people,” Cullison said. Last year, there were about 30 who tried out, but this year 37 girls tried out.

“I think the big turn-out is good because it makes it easier to build up our team and program for years to come,” Ekundayo said.

Even with the “rough introduction” the team still works hard and looks on the season with a positive outlook. “We just have to keep working hard and the wins will come,” Ekundayo said.

Haley Kyger is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.