You can hear your heart pounding in your ears, as you step back to serve. Its game point. If they win they go to Chicago, if they don't, they have to play again. This is what the girls at Miller who are on the Tstreet volleyball team feel. 

Four eighth grade girls at this school play for the 14s Las Vegas Tstreet volleyball team. Their names are Tru Halvorsen, Alyssa Jeong, Gabby Leone, and Mercer Edlund and they will be competing in a Junior National Qualifier called Red Rock Rave. They will play at Mandalay Bay March from 4th to the 6th. 

The game of volleyball is almost like tennis. The ball has to stay inside the bounds and you have to try to keep the ball up. If the ball hits the floor, it’s dead. There are multiple positions that one can play including outside hitter, opposite hitter, middle blocker, defensive specialist, libero, setter and other extra special positions. There are other rules that are crucial for the game like only 3 hits on the ball, one person can’t touch the ball twice, you can’t touch the net, and more!

Red Rock Rave is a Junior National Qualifier. It is a three day tournament. On the first day you get to play three games and on the second day depending on how well you played, you get to either move up or down. On the third day you get to compete and play one game, if you win, you get a bid and go to championships. It is held in Mandalay Bay and has over 100 courts with age levels ranging from 12-15.   

LV 14-Savannah is the first 14s age group in the Las Vegas Tstreet team ever and have 13 people on their team. Their jersey colors contain white, gray, black, and blue. The girls here at the school play many different positions and work very hard. 

“I play the opposite hitter, middle, or anything really. Also, I have been playing since I was 7 years old, so I have been playing for 7 years,” said Tru Halvorsen, 8th grade.

“I play the outside hitter and have been playing for 5-6 years,” said Gabby Leone, 8th grade.

“I have been playing for about 3-4 years, so I have been playing since I was maybe 10. The position I play is libero,” said Alyssa Jeong, 8th grade. 

“I play side or opposite hitter and have been playing for about 6 or 7 years,” said Mercer Edlund, 8th grade. 

The girls have been playing for so long and have dedicated a lot of time to this sport.

Overall, wish these girls luck, and consider trying out this sport for yourself too!

The smell of freshly cut grass airs through the stadium. With a quick chirp the starting whistle blows to commence the game. The helmets bash together as the two teams battle to get to victory. The most important game of the year. Two teams, one victory. This is the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl is the most important time of the year for a football fan. The Eagles and Chiefs faced off in this year’s Super Bowl. Both teams had won 14 games this season and only lost 3. The Eagles were favored to win with a 1.5 point favorite over the Chiefs. Their stats this season are so close that you can’t count either team out.

Students' opinions were contradictory about who they thought should win the Super Bowl.

“I don’t like Patrick Mahomes because he always wins,” said Amira Hassanali, 8th grader. Amira felt that she wanted a change since the Chiefs won recently in 2020.

“I want the Chiefs to win because I’ve been following them throughout the season,” said Gavin Skupa, 6th grader.

“I want the Chiefs to win, but I think the Eagles will win,” says Coach Kinghorn. She was following the Seahawks but they sadly got beat by the 49ers in the playoffs. All of these people thought that it would be a close and good game to watch.

In the end, the Chiefs took home the trophy in a super close game. The Chiefs scored on every possession in the second half of the game but the Eagles were in the lead the majority of the game.

Gavin Skupa said that he was super excited, contradicting Amira Hassanali’s reaction. She was mad and disappointed in the results.

Everyone had different expectations of the Super Bowl and some even thought that the team they were going for was going to lose. Regardless, the Super Bowl is the biggest football game of the year and having a team that you are rooting for is part of the fun. The Chiefs had a comeback in this year’s super bowl and everyone had different reactions to it. The Super Bowl wouldn’t be popular without the thousands of fans supporting each team and that’s what makes it so interesting and fun.