Coming off a year in which they reached the regional quarterfinals, the varsity volleyball team knew this season would be something special too. They lost five seniors, but gained a new group that was just as successful. The team is young but by no means inexperienced.

The team has never won two tournaments back to back nor have they ever gone as far, playoff wise, as this year.

“It feels awesome to go this far since it’s my first year to be on varsity and it’s the year that we’ve made history twice,” senior Shawnasee Swenson said.

The rigor of the practices pushes the girls to compete at a higher level.

“We plan practice around how we want to play,” Swenson said, “so we work as hard in practice as we would in a game.”

Starting practice at the beginning of August, varsity coach, Claire Rose has been with them through it all.

“It’s been a joy to coach this group of girls. I think they’ve touched my life more than they know,” Rose said. “They brought joy back to what this sport is about. It’s about what you can accomplish as a team instead of as an individual.”

No longer the underdog that they were last year, Rose believes the team can compete with any team they play.

“We have just as good of a chance as anyone in state, because we’re such a good team; I hope it is us,” Rose said.

On Saturday, November 10, the volleyball team battled one last time, hoping to go to state this week.

“I felt so upset because it didn’t feel like we were done,” junior Serena Estrada said. “We could have gone so much further.”