With the first game less than two weeks away, Varsity girls Volleyball practices bumping and setting.

“We’re going to have a competition,” Head coach Robin Yuede says. She proceeds to explain that the girls must bump the ball above their heads, not letting it drop. The last one standing wins.

In addition to these competitions, the girls have been adding balance workouts to their routine. They pass and throw while standing on one foot. Sometimes they throw using only one hand. These exercises help the girls strengthen their cores and play better.

“Balance is really important,” Yuede said. “We need a very strong core. Volleyball is all about getting to the ball and getting there in a matter in which you can do something with the ball. So even though we are doing a lot of passing, when you hit, you have to pull up from your core and really be balanced going to the ball. What I’ve seen is that the girls who have done it all summer are much better passers.”

Sophomore Baylie Clynes said she noticed that the girls on the team seemed to be more balanced in their positions after doing these workouts.

“Personally, I can see a difference in my passing because of them,” Clynes, a setter, said.

According to Head manager Kaitlin Eifert, going back to these fundamental drills is going to help the girls throughout the season.

“I think that, in the long run, they’re going to help because they’re more like small precise workouts that will help them in the long run,” Eifert said. “They’re all good players, and they’ve been playing for so long that it just comes naturally, so they need to go back to the fundamentals to improve more.”

This year, the girls want to focus on strengthening their teamwork and improving their game.

“My goal is to really work together as a team. It is to fight through an entire match whether we’re winning or losing,” Yuede said. “I would love to win, but that’s not– winning is the ultimate goal of those other things, you know? If you’re fighting through, if you’re working as a team, winning is kind of a by-product of that.”

The players believe that building on top of last year’s progress will help them reach their goals.

“Last year, coming from what we did have, I think that we worked so hard to get better that we just take that and we just keep moving forward,” Clynes said. “We got to know each other so well on and off the court that it’ll just keep building, and we’ll comfortable with each other on the court which helps a lot.”

In addition to their regular practices on weekdays that last from after school until 5:30 p.m., the girls will also be attending a jamboree on August 26 where they will play St. Charles High, Holt and Timberland. According to Yuede, the girls this year are prepared to take on the challenge.

“Last year’s team was one of the hardest working teams I’ve ever had,” Yuede said. “So that’s not different. I mean, they carried that right over into this year. But there seems to be kind of a new attitude–a ’you can’t beat us’ attitude–which is good.”

As the year goes on, Yuede wants to see the team improve by learning from their mistakes. She sees them as being successful by applying what they’ve learned.

“I just see us getting better and really learning from our mistakes,” Yuede said. “Because, like I said, we are going to make mistakes, so I would say that we’re going to learn from them and become stronger as we go through. That’s really what we need to do.”

Varsity girls Volleyball will have its first game on September 3 against Fort Zumwalt South.

“I think they’ll do well because in practices they’ve been working hard,” Eifert said.