Friday, Oct. 14, the Volleyball team held their senior night, an emotional evening as they neared the end of their first season with new coach Doug Mekinda. Seniors were honored with a roses and speeches delivered by junior players.
One of the highlights of the season was Oct. 5, when the team held Volley for the Cure, a fundraiser game against Richmond Heights to raise money to cure breast cancer.
Junior Sammie Jacobs said, “Volley for the Cure was [held] to raise money for breast cancer by selling t-shirts, water bottles, sweatshirts, wristbands, and having a bake-sale.” All of the players on both teams wore Volley for the Cure jerseys.
Jacobs also said, “I definitely thought that this was successful. The stands were full; people from both our school and Richmond Heights bought t-shirts. We raised a few hundred dollars by selling shirts and through the bake sale.”
“We are all affected in some way by cancer—either we know someone who is going through it, or some of us may have been affected directly. It is always useful to help out the cause, since it touches so many people,” she continued.
To improve the event in the future she said, “We should probably advertise more to get the word out. We sold t-shirts during the lunch periods the week leading up to the event. If we had “color days” leading up to the event, where everyone wore pink, for example, this would definitely make people more aware of the event.”
Although Volley for the Cure was successful, the team faced challenges. The season may not have been a winning one, but Coach Mekinda puts it into perspective. “Just getting to know the players [has been my goal] and to make them believe in themselves.”
Senior Ena Jones said, “I like the new coach because of his intensity, which makes a better team.”
But the players are not satisfied with their record this year. Senior Traci Milliner said, “[our] abilities are not reflected by our record.”
The volleyball team has practice every day except for games days and weekends. Coach Mekinda explained that they do a full two hours of conditioning, drills, and improvement on mistakes from previous games.
