This Saturday the Manhattan High Junior Varsity volleyball team victoriously played five opposing teams — Free State, St. Thomas Aquinas, Hayden, Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights — at the J.V. Invitational at MHS.  

Previous practices leading up to their tournament had gone well as the team made progress in improving their abilities and weaknesses, so there were high expectations leading into the morning.

“I have very high expectations for the girls,” Mandy Michaelis, J.V. volleyball coach, said. “They’ve been working really hard, so I’m excited to see how the outcome is going to be today.”

The day started off slow for MHS, however, but they pushed through their struggle with shining colors.

“Our team has this tendency to start off slow but gradually get more high energy as we play,” Kennady Martinie, sophomore, said. “I’d say our first game was a lot more slower going through the motions kind of game, as to our last game — we got used to the game and played really high energy and great volleyball.”

Winning their first game up against Free State, MHS continued on triumphantly, winning time and time again. By the final game, they had won three out of four games, unfortunately losing to Washburn Rural.

“The Washburn game we could’ve played much better,” Ryane Stipe, sophomore, said. “It’s just a matter of pushing through the middle of the tournament, mentally and physically.”

The team is primarily trying to focus on being better team members, emphasizing teamwork and consistency.

“I think we all could work on our consistency in games and our communication at times, including myself,” Martinie said.

Despite this small rift, MHS won their last game facing Shawnee Heights in only two short sets.

Regardless of the obstacles they faced, the J.V. volleyball team proudly placed first overall due to sets won during matches and points accumulated. Not only did they end champs, they also met their own personal goals for themselves and their team. Winning the tournament was, in fact, among their many goals.

“Our team is full of great girls, we’re a family, we stick together through the good, bad, and the ugly,” Stipe said. “Because that’s what we Indians do.”