The Manhattan High Varsity volleyball team took a couple hits Tuesday, September 8 at their triangular in Highland Park that also included Washburn Rural.

“We played good,” senior Ellie Hacker said. “Well, we played good individually, but we struggled playing together as a team. That’s why we didn’t pull off the wins.”

Even though the Varsity team’s second triangular of the season didn’t go exactly as hoped for, there’s still a bright future ahead for them despite the many changes of COVID-19. 

“It’s kind of hard to show our celebration because we’re not allowed to touch each other,” Hacker said. “It’s hard when someone scores a [good] point — you can’t really huddle and give hugs and stuff like that.”

The volleyball team has certain things they look for when they are getting ready to play. 

“We find their strong hitters and just focus on them and shut them down,” Hacker said. “And then bounc[ing] off [of] that by using our strong hitters and just scoring points.”

Energy is one of the things in volleyball you need to have in order to have a successful match or matches. Without it, there wouldn’t be a lot of points scored.

“We [definitely] kept our energy up,” Hacker said. ”We had a lot of energy, and at the end of the night, we learned to lean on each other and bring each other up.”

Hacker is very confident in her team this year. This is her senior year, so she is prepared to play her heart out and put in the work to make it a great season.

“I’m really excited for [the season],” Hacker said. “It just started and I know we have a good team. I’m hoping that a lot of improvements will come [as we move forward with the season].”

The next varsity volleyball meet is hosted by MHS on Tuesday, September 22. Remember to mask up and come support the Lady Indians!