DEFENDING THE DEN

Starting off, Varsity had a preseason game scheduled on Aug 18, 2021against West Shore and Merritt Island Christian School. Due to COVID, our team was unable to play and had to forfeit. Due to most of the players being quarantined, practice was canceled for several days.

For our volleyball teams, COVID has been making things difficult. After multiple quarantines on our teams and opponents' teams, two of their games have already been canceled. Hopefully, as the season progresses, everything will continue as usual allowing all teams to play. COVID has been a massive concern for the continuation of the season.

“My main concern about COVID is the risk of one of my players testing positive. COVID does not discriminate and is a nasty illness,” said Coach Shannon Dowdell.

COVID is no joke, and brings our athletes lots of stress and anxiety. They know that if they test positive, they will be out of school and practice for multiple days, which means less time to improve and loads of school work that need to be caught up on.

But these girls haven't let COVID stop them. Last year, our girls Varsity volleyball team ended their season by making it to the semi-finals. They won 77% of their games and set school records. The Junior Varsity team ended the season with a 67% win percentage. Overall, the season finished off with a bang.

Since the start of this season, Varsity has already made school history. On September 2nd, our girls beat Holy Trinity with a score of 3-1. This was the first Volleyball win against Holy Trinity in Edgewood programming. After this win, the girls have big plans for the season.

“I have really high expectations for this season. So far we’ve been playing really well and I think we have a really good chance of going to regionals or even further,” said Sarah Watson, 12, who captains the Varsity team along with Kate Lyerly, 11.

This year, the coaches had a hard time deciding teams, since there were many great players that attended tryouts. But after forming their teams, they have high hopes for the season. The girls have been working extremely hard to meet their goals and improve their skills, individually and as a team, and they are a very strong group already.

“My team's strengths are how close we are and that makes us communicate and play better,” said Ashlynn Wimmer, 8.

Overall, this year we have amazing teams and players who plan to exceed the expectations and play their best. They will continue to thrive throughout the season.