The volleyball team battled through a season of challenges, but finished strong with determination and unity.
“We had some challenges to overcome just throughout the year,” Head Coach Kendall Gomez said. “We had some instability with the coaching staff, just because of some outside circumstances, but I think the girls did a great job of showing up every day and focusing on what was happening on the court, whether it was practice or during a game, and kind of blocking out all of that outside noise.”
That focus helped carry the team on its road to the state tournament where they beat Mount St. Mary’s, a team they lost to earlier in the season, in a tight 3-1 sets match.
“We definitely faced challenges of uniting as a team and like really finding the flow of our gameplay, but ultimately, we really came out and showed out our strength,” Senior Rosemary Bustillo said.
During the season, the team members remained focused by remembering the metaphor that they chose at the beginning of the season.
“We always pick a metaphor every year to use about our journey and the adversities we’ll be facing together,” Gomez said. “This year, we chose climbing a mountain as our metaphor. Each mountain peak represented our next opponent, so as we continued through the post season, through the quarterfinals, semifinals, and then the finals, we discussed exactly what we had to do to defeat each opponent.”
The girls also built consistency through mental preparation and routine.
“Our ritual is we always start each game focusing on a meditation, just to get our minds right,” Gomez said. “The players also had some pump-up songs they liked to listen to before each game to get them locked in on their next opponent.”
With a foundation of focus, fitness and teamwork, the Lady Spikers climbed their mountain one match at a time.
