Your Wylie varsity volleyball team has finished their pre-season games and started District play Tuesday, September 26, against Big Spring. This year’s team has a few new faces due to the graduation of eight seniors following last year’s season. We spoke to sophomores Keetyn Davis, Anna Collums, and Karis Christian to hear about their goals and expectations for the season.

“As a team we want to work harder at practice and learn from our mistakes in games, so we can bounce back from those and come back stronger,” said Collumns. “I want to get farther than last year. State is definitely the ultimate goal.”

The players feel that the team needs to continue to work hard, finish, and pursue playoffs as far as they can. The team’s atmosphere is often described as loud and energetic by both the people watching and playing. Their intensity helps them power through each game.

“As a team, we are very intense. We are always trying to be really loud and get the motivation on our side and keep it. We really try to push, so I think our atmosphere is very intense and loud,” Davis said.

The girls really try to focus on keeping their heads up no matter the deficit. They feel that having a strong mental mindset can really help them when trying to finish games.

Christian said, “We focus on each point. Its hard sometimes, but we have to tell ourselves not to think about it too much and just take it point by point and also to have fun, obviously because a lot of times it gets hard, and we are not having as much as we should be.”

This year’s senior leadership is really helping the youth of this team. They continue to make the team work hard and keep a positive attitude.

“We have really good leaders, and a lot of times they are really encouraging whether it’s on the court or off the court,” said Davis. “They have a strive to win, so they definitely make us work hard and bring intensity to the court. I feel like that is really needed in volleyball.”

The team lost eight seniors last year including five of it’s six starters. This year’s players feel that though the team is young, they are still excelling and even beating teams that they lost to last year.

“I think it still does feel like a young team because we have five sophomores, but I think also the seniors lead the team very well in their performances,” Collums said. “The sophomores really do help balance us out because age really doesn’t matter when it comes to sports. It is just who can put the ball down. I think it feels like a good mix.”

This year’s team has added sophomores Pierson Sanders, Madison Burden, Anna Collums, and Karis Christian to the last year’s roster which already included sophomore Keetyn Davis who earned a spot on varsity as a freshman. The new additions show that they have to work harder and be accountable to excel on the varsity level.

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s very different from JV, especially blocking; it’s way harder on the varsity level. Sets are faster and hits are harder,” said Christian. “It’s hard; last year I would just jump in the air, but now I really have to cover an area. It’s more difficult, but it’s definitely worth it.”

In the end, they all realize that it doesn’t matter your age or how long you have been on varsity because it is still volleyball; you are still a team, and you still have to come together to work hard to win.

“I think that on the court it doesn’t matter because we are family, and there is no age when you step out there. When we are playing it’s like everyone is the same. It does feel like a young team because we have five sophomores, but it feels right,” Davis said.