New school year; New opportunities. A new exciting season awaits the Agua Fria women’s volleyball team as they start it off with a game against Verrado. In this anticipated match between the Owls and the Vipers, who will prevail?

It was a sunny afternoon on the last day of the month, the thunderous sound of balls bouncing back and forth can be heard from outside the gym. As people entered, players of both teams could be seen warming up on the court. The excitement and energy engulfs the entire place coming from each player, coach, staff, and spectator, waiting for the matches to begin.

The stands, specifically the student section, started to fill up and the cheers were definitely a great way to start the game. “The student section brought so much energy and it helped a lot with our momentum. Without them, we wouldn’t have felt as confident to play” varsity captain, Ashlyn Blakley commented. During the entire game, there wasn’t a single moment in which the team played silently as the uproarious chants overwhelmed the gym.

Once again, the audience played a huge role on how the atmosphere of the games turned out. It was a huge factor on how confident many of the players felt while being on the court. Eriyana Young mentioned, “I feel like the audience and our teammates who weren’t playing really came together and became a massive support group for us.” Some students were leading cheers and chants while the others joined in as well. “Our student section is the best!” Ella Cazacu exclaimed.

After tough and exhausting matches, in the end, Agua Fria was unfortunately unable to come out victorious; Losing to Verrado 3-0.

Later on, the players contemplated what went wrong and the things they could still improve on coming forward. “Volleyball is such a mental game, if you make a mistake, you need to learn to shake it off and keep pushing through. As a team, we need to work on having better communication” Ella Cazacu stated. Eriyana Young also added, “I feel like I was pretty prepared, however, I was quite nervous and there was this immense pressure being that it was the first game.” 

Through scrimmages and extensive practices, the team had done their best to prepare. “It was different from what we expected but we’re gonna take what happened last night and improve on it” said Ashlyn Blakley. While winning would have been the most favorable outcome, the team stands to learn from this experience. It was apparent that the team was not satisfied with their performance, however, their tireless effort will surely come to reward them soon enough. 

After all, it was only the first game. Ella Cazacu enthusiastically stated “I have no worries for the rest of our season. I know we’ll thrive and do amazing!” No doubt, this team will definitely evolve as time goes on, hopefully many more students will come to support and witness their journey.

Although the team was defeated, the support that they received from the Agua Fria family is a huge win in itself. Wish them luck for the rest of their season, and to the volleyball team: have fun and do not let this loss discourage you!

And remember, Honor First; Win or Lose.