The buildup. The anticipation. The excitement of playing your rival school. Sophomores Anna Scognamiglio and Jazlyn Jennings have waited over a year to play in their first junior varsity game, just to get COVID-19 and miss the first three weeks of their season. 

“I found out I had Covid the very first week of the season, and since then I’ve kind of just felt out of the loop,” Jennings said. 

The players were not able to come back until they provided a negative covid test, and completed a seven day training process.

“It was especially hard coming back because I didn’t know about the training process,” Scognamiglio said. “I missed so many sessions because I was unaware that I was supposed to skip games to go to them. That’s why it’s been three weeks since I’ve played instead of one.” 

It’s always difficult to come straight back to volleyball after a long break, but especially after recovering from COVID-19.

“At first I was having breathing issues, but they have gradually gotten better as I continued training,” Scognamiglio said. “We started off with bicycling, and worked our way up to strength training and running. Finally, we were able to practice for 60 minutes.” 

Because Scognamiglio was the first to test positive, she was devastated at the possibility of having her whole team have to quarantine. 

“At first, I cried,” Scognamiglio said. “It was really emotional for me because I felt as if I’d let my whole team down. The good thing is the rule that if you’re vaccinated, you don’t have to be quarantined, which was a relief because I found out on the first day of school.”

Even after testing negative, both girls still weren’t allowed to play. As teammates though, they did everything to show their support and excitement.

“I went to their weekend tournament and cheered them on, but I’m mostly trying to stay involved with the team so I’m not losing touch with what’s happening,” Jennings said. “I’m so proud of them and so excited to be back for my first game on Thursday.”