The Junior Varsity volleyball team took home a 3-0 win from Concordia on Sept. 17, winning the quad as well.

“We played really well tonight and as a team which was a lot better than the past three games,” Elise Funk, junior, said. “Our tournament on Saturday really helped us get the feel of each other. I think we all played really great as a whole, but there is always room for improvement.”

The night of the tournament the J.V. team won 6-0 on sets and 3-0 on matches, with their last match against Junction City ending with the scores being 25-5 and 25-13.

“I had a good idea of the outcome of tonight and went into [the tournament] kind of knowing what to expect since we have already beat Junction City and Clay Center,” Mandy Michaelis, J.V. volleyball coach, said.

Practice for the J.V. team usually consists of meeting up everyday after school until 5 p.m., and the team also did workouts during the summer that their coaches helped them with.

“Just being able to play other in competitive game situations give you the best experience and practice,” Funk said.

Michaelis said that the J.V. girls worked really well as a team and came out strong right from the beginning of the game, as well as utilizing their roles on the court well, but she believes there is always more to improve.

“Eliminating serving errors is a big thing we need to work on,” Michaelis said. “Also picking up the speed of our games for when we come across some tougher opponents and we need to have more of an upper hand on them.”

As the coach, Michaelis said she wasn’t nervous, and that the J.V. girls played really confidently from the start, and that confidence carried throughout the night.

“Hitter Ruth Schinstock performed under pressure very well and improved a lot this season, Kennady Martinie had a great serving run against JC, and Ryane Stipe was a great and reliable passer,” Funk said.

This online exclusive story is written as an assignment for 21st Century Journalism, Manhattan High’s introductory journalism class.