Ending last season with a record of 10-15, this season’s girls’ volleyball team finished second in the Liberty division behind Sterling. Head Coach Charles Casey, along with the team’s seniors and captains, helped keep the team motivated in their pursuit of victory. The girls finished with an 18-8 record at the end of the season.
Coach Casey has coached volleyball for over nine years. He has been the head coach for the Lady Pirates for the past two years and helps guide the team, along with its captains: Samantha Danowski, Hannah Derbyshire, and Anela Asbury.
“My goals for the season are to go for the smartest play,” junior Samantha Danowski said ahead of the season.
Having graduated seven seniors at the end of last year, the girls knew coming into this season that it would require some rebuilding and a return to basics.
“It was hard because we lost a lot of seniors and a lot of girls came up and we just had to relearn and get to the level we were to the previous year,” Danowski said. “From just a few games we have just been shown how well we can do, and I think it brought everyone up because we know we can count on each other.”
The girls also recognize that sometimes they cannot surpass some of their opposing teams’ success. According to Danowski, there are times when a team simply has a better day on the court or taller girls, which is an advantage.
Among the team’s standout players is sophomore Julia Harvey whose record consists of 304 digs and 62 aces in 192 sets.
“Julia Harvey is just like crazy consistent. She just passes the ball almost perfectly every time and can spot the ball really well and consistently,” Casey said. “She seems to be our number one offensive weapon.”
Another player with impressive stats for the season is senior Alex Angelone. She has 171 digs and 46 aces in 178 sets played this season, surpassing her performance from last year.
“Alex Angelone has a lot of crazy plays like diving and like just going all out and making some good plays you can hear like audibly gasping when she’s like diving and she’s making these crazy plays,” Casey said.
Of course, even with their success, Coach Casey adds that volleyball is a harsh sport, especially in an area where it’s only played in high school, and some players may miss games due to traveling or clubs.
“I think we’ve done a good job of kind of mixing it up because of how strong our seniors are and good all around there,” Casey said.
Despite a valiant effort, the girls have yet to be able to beat one of their biggest opponents, Sterling, whom they played for the third time during the second round of playoffs. They lost 2-0 after a first-round win against Lacey.
Though unable to get past the quarterfinal round in the playoffs, the girls’ volleyball team showed remarkable growth having finished with a winning record for the first time since the 2022-2023 season.
