Girls volleyball heading into season strong

As the Samo girls volleyball team dives into the beginning of their 2017 fall season, the need to keep up the expert skill level and exceptional performance from last year’s season makes each player anxious. In 2016, the team exceeded expectations, placing first in the Ocean League and advancing to the quarterfinals of CIF. While the players have rejoiced at this victory in the past, now it is an added pressure to live up to the high standards. Although this worry lingers in the back of each girl’s mind, every player is confident that they can play just as strongly and cohesively as they have in the past. They have been training for over a month together, working on perfecting their skills. “It’s going to be a great season!” player Annalise Wille (’20) said. “Our team has been working really, really hard together to prepare, so we all hope that it will go well again this year.”Team captain Veronica Johnson (’18) is also confident in the abilities of the girls, but still feels like there will be a few opponents that may challenge their skills.“[I’m excited to see] our team grow and evolve and be able to play better as a group with each other,” Johnson said. “We started league last week, so that was our first challenge. We have some tougher teams in our league, but I’m confident.” “From what I’ve seen our team is doing super well in practice,” varsity player Channing Baker (’20), said. “I hope that we stay strong together as we go into our first few league games.”In the upcoming weeks, everyone involved is planning to work extra hard to make this a strong and successful season. Coach Liane Sato is proud of how her team has worked hard to prepare.“[During practice] it’s always a great team effort! I think we play really well as a team,” Sato said.