The Manhattan High School girls volleyball team started their season with two losses at Hayden and Washburn, but impressively came back with three wins against Shawnee Mission East, Blue Valley Northwest and Lawrence Free State.
The new team dynamics, especially with all the new players on Varsity, definitely helped this team take their connections off the court and turn them into better communication and overall better teamwork.
“We’re really good friends on and off the court,” senior Kelbey Larchick said. “We’re able to push each other, knowing you’re not taking it in a bad way, we’re all trying to get better.”
With all these techniques and strategies being contributed by the new players, this team also has many goals set for this upcoming season.
“Our goal is definitely to stay good and progressively get better,” junior Sophia Peabody said. “And especially with these games leading up to SubState, it’s just for us to get to our peak.”
The team’s last season record of 21-19 is what they aim to beat with this year’s team. Especially with the hard competitors and the devastating loss against the Olathe West Owls in last year’s playoffs. The girls want to make their way to state, hoping to take the trophy home to MHS.
With the team’s standards set so high, the girls are determined to make a name for themselves. They want to play to the best of their abilities, especially against some of their biggest competitors like Washburn and Blue Valley West.
“We’re also very young. So definitely the team is hungry to prove themselves,” Larchick said.
The team demonstrated all of these ideals in their most recent match against the FSHS Firebirds on Sept. 4. Although a close match the entire time, some strong spikes, impressive digs and aggressive blocks helped push the Indians into a lead.
“They were playing very aggressively. And we took it as we can be aggressive too,” Larchick said. “And we gave it right back to them.”
The close match pushed into the third set. The Indians took the lead and ended it 2-1, going into the next matches with an overall record of 3-2.
Junior Bailey Busch helped lead the Indians to victory, averaging almost 5 kills per set. Her impressive skill and care for her teammates makes her a great returning player for the Indians this season.
“We have a lot of grit. And it’s mainly because of just our team motto. Privilege of pressure,” Busch said.
Next, the Indians will head to Shawnee Heights on Sept. 11 to face Seaman, Shawnee Heights and Silver Lake in a quad.
These girls are able to make this team a place to collaborate with each other, give feedback and most importantly provide for each other when they need it.
“We all just want the best for each other. And we understand that sometimes that comes at the expense of playing time or stuff like that. There really isn’t any comparison between us,” Larchick said.
