Manhattan High Varsity volleyball went 2-0 and placed first in the sub-state tournament against Lawrence Free State and Wichita East. Despite having an outstanding performance on the court, however they started off slow.

“We did good,” junior Addie Terril said. “We started out a little slow but then we realized that we will have to face harder competition later in the day so we stepped it up and played our game which is us being relaxed and playing as a team. When we get mad at each other we don’t play very good. We have a negative mindset. When we have a positive mindset we play so good and as a team.”

The team has had several noteworthy performances this past season. Including making history at MHS by winning the Centennial League championship for the first time ever.

“We for sure took the momentum from winning league into the substate tournament,” Terril said. “We beat Washburn the second time we played them and that gave us confidence. [one thing we did well was] we let go of mistakes. When someone messed up someone was always there pick them up.”

Every athlete needs a certain support system in order to continue performing at the best of their ability. For some of the girls of MHS volleyball, that support system is their very own teammates.  

“We all love each other on and off the court,” junior Garrin Williams said. “We all make mistakes. So we try to support each other through anything. I think the support we give each other makes everyone trust each other and work as a team better.”

This support system that the team has forged between their teammates makes significant impacts on how the team performs on the court.

“I think it makes everyone trust each other and work as a team better,” Williams said. “If we support each other off the court it helps on the court. Looking from the outside onto the court you can tell when the ball is halfway between two people and when someone calls it they trust that person will take it.”

The team’s next and final performance occurs Friday and Saturday where they will compete for the state title.

“We have a great shot to make it to Saturday and to advance deeper into the tournament.” senior Raegan Wilcoxson said. “However our team is trying to focus on one game at time because each step of the process is going to be crucial to our success at state.”