Volleyball competes in two meets

Taryn Robinson, Opinions Editor

The Manhattan High Varsity volleyball team traveled to Hayden on Sept. 29 to compete in a triangular against Hayden and Junction City.

The team won against Junction City (25-13 the first set and 25-16 in the second) and lost against Hayden (15-15 the first set, 25-19 the second set and 21-25 in the final set).

The team also played in a tournament on Saturday against Bonner Springs, Olathe Northwest and Lawrence.

Their scores were 25-19, 25-20 and 27-25 against Bonner Springs, the third set pulling off the win. In their game against Olathe Northwest, they went 18-25 and 21-25, just short of a couple points. In their final game of the tourney, they played Lawrence and scored 22-25 and 16-25.

“Since our first was against Junction, it was a slow game so we didn’t play to our best abilities,” senior Kennady Martinie said. “[However], in the Hayden game in the second set, we played fairly well and had lots of energy, which is sometimes something we lack.”

The team agreed that this was one of the better games they’ve played this season. Working as a team is a priority that the team is hoping to improve on. Therefore, they have been aiming to make time before games to do so.

“On Monday at practice, we worked on meshing as a team and picking each other up when we got down on ourselves,” junior Monroe Say said.

However, the team members excel in other parts of the game. In all the tournaments and triangulars they’ve been to so far this season, the girls have all agreed that they execute “free balls” very well. 

“During games, we have done well with executing the free balls we get and being able to get a kill when we get a free ball,” Martinie said.

This season has been difficult for the team to connect. Due to social distancing guidelines, it has been hard for the team to really support each other.

“This year has been hard to do team bonding outside of practice with COVID-19,” Say said. “However, before our games yesterday we had some extra time so we played ninja and spent time together as a team.”