After a year full of killer digs and hard spikes, the Volleyball team ended on a high note. The girls finished off the year 21-14. They won the first round of regionals against Mattoon, but sadly suffered a hard loss in the second round against Centralia. However, win or lose, the group still finished with a great season and didn’t let this loss take away from their achievements. 

One of the seniors, Bianca Huddson, has been on the team for three years and plans to play for Rend Lake College next year. She says that one of her best memories is “winning the first round of regionals” this year. This important game was memorable for her because the team was “all working with one another.” Huddson says that when she graduates, she will miss the people and the sports, but also the school in general because that is where she grew up and “started to know who she truly was.”

Another senior on the team, Ashton Hawk, has played volleyball for about seven years now. As of now she has no plans to play for a college, but might consider joining an intramural team. One of Hawk’s most memorable moments she says was last year when they beat New Athens in a home tournament. “We ended up beating them miracuously in two sets; that’s probably the best team we had beaten that year!” Hawk relayed excitedly. What she will miss most of all is the community. Often, female sports are overlooked, but Hawk says that this year, the community has “rallied behind us and supported us in the best way possible.”

Though the team will lose many good athletes this year, with that much talent, they can never be bad off. Both Huddson and Hawk have advice for everyone playing next year. “Don’t give up on what you believe in!” says Huddson. She also wants them to make sure they live to the fullest. Hawk says that the team needs to believe in themselves. “As soon as you believe you’re going to lose, you’ve already lost.” With such a talented and hardworking group of girls, next year is bound to be as full of wins as this year. Great job to all of the athletes that rocked it on the court this season!