Owen Garcon

Two players jump up to hit the volleyball during a practice.

The Girls Volleyball team is off to a strong start this fall. The team has won it’s first two games, defeating Thomas A. Edison High School on Tuesday and Martin Van Buren High School on Thursday.

At Tuesday’s match, sophomore Maggie Gildea led the way with nine points during the first set, earned mainly through her serving skills. On Thursday, senior co-captain Emma Wu totaled thirteen assists by the end of the game. There were fifteen total assists by the team that day.

“The games went very well,” co-captain Nicole Saenz said. “On Tuesday, our B-Team was able to get on the court and see how it feels like to play during a real game.”

With many seniors graduating at the end of the 2024 season and new members taking their place, the team has had to navigate new team dynamics. Sophomore Chloe Lee stepped up to the libero position, earning some kind words from the co-captain: “She proves herself every day at practice that the position should be hers. She really earned it.”

Sophomore Faye Simons and Nicole both praised freshman Maraya Angelova as a great prospect, commenting on her “extremely powerful” hits and serves. Both said they are excited to see the underclassmen grow as the season progresses.

As the team prepares to face off against more opponents in the coming season, the competitive fire is fueling everyone’s drive. Manager Brian Merino said, “I am looking forward to seeing games against schools like Metropolitan High School because that’s the team [we] lost to last year.”

The team echoed similar sentiments. Faye said, “I am super excited for our matchup against Metropolitan High School on October 6. They have been the team to beat in our league so far, and I believe we will come out victorious this year.” Nicole said, “They have very good players that are versatile, but so do we. I think that this year the game will be even closer than last time.”

Commenting on the season to come, sophomore Maggie Gildea said, “I am excited to make amazing memories with the team and to have a great season overall, where each of us [is able to] improve and have fun.”