This year, the varsity boys volleyball team made it to the championships for the first time in 20 years. In the semifinals, they beat Loyola 3-0, sending them to the big game.
Senior Wyatt Leach said, “Going into the season, we knew we were a team with a lot of talent, so one of our main goals was to make a deep playoff run that a lot of other teams may not have expected.”
Looking back at the season, Wyatt believes the team has fulfilled that goal even though they fell short in the championship game. He feels they made history by beating teams that they have not beaten in a few years.
Coach Jordan Smith said, “The goals for the team this year were to be tough and together. This was a very talented team, but the coaching staff felt that without toughness and without the ability to stay together, we would not get very far. We not only completed this goal, but we exceeded expectations. This team was able to have success because they were able to stay tough and together through all the adversity they faced this year.”
Junior Jaden Riley said, “One of the biggest highlights we had this season was Gilman 3-1 in our first home game of the season. Another highlight was making it to the championship with a first-round bye in playoffs.”
Wyatt added, “The biggest challenge throughout our season was battling our mental state in the game. We all knew that we could beat any team in the league, but it was tough for us as a team to keep our morale up during the game.”
Jaden commented, “Coach Smith never failed to keep our team’s morale up, and he made sure we were always helping each other and keeping the negativity out of our heads.” Jaden also mentioned that Coach Smith’s motto is “nothing will ever be perfect, and that is okay.”
Coach Smith said, “Next year we hope to have another deep playoff run. We are losing some key seniors from this year, but this team still has the same goals as this past year. If they are once again able to stay tough and together, we should be able to have another very successful year.”
Wyatt said, “In the beginning of the season, we made a promise to each other and our coaches that we would stay together during all times of the season.”
Volleyball practices consisted of stretching together, performing drills, then doing run-throughs of each rotation and working on every situation possible to prepare for game day.
Coach Smith concluded, “My first year as head coach exceeded my expectations. This team was an absolute joy to be around. Going to practice every day was the highlight of my day. These players worked hard and had fun every single day, and I could not be prouder of them.”
The team lost 3-0 against Mount St. Joseph in the championships. However, they came out of the season with a 13-5 record.