Adapting to adversity

Varsity girls volleyball team adjusts after losing four players to injuries. Despite this, they are 10-14 for the season.

Adapting+to+adversity

When on the court as a team senior Mickayla Haemmerle has to anticipate what the other team’s next move is and always be a step ahead in order to win. She has to be patient and pay attention to what she needs to do to stay steps ahead of the other team and ultimately make the changes she has to, so they can win.

The girls volleyball season started on Aug. 17. As a team they rank 70th in the state of Indiana, their next approaching game is Oct. 17 against Westfield High School a home game at 10 a.m. Senior varsity player Mickayla Haemmerle has played for LN for four years and has been on varsity for two years. This is Haemmerle’s first year setting for the team.

“I don’t think they’re really confident playing with returning varsity, they work together but don’t like to take criticism, we need to face these problems on and off of the court” Haemmerle said.

The girls volleyball team has not only overcome obstacles with other teams, but within their team. The team has shown progressive teamwork and play side by side.

“Our first few games, we played as six individuals on the court, but now we play more as a team,” Hammerle said.

Haemmerle will continue to play volleyball through Union College in Kentucky. As of now the team has challenges with being comfortable with each other and taking criticism but they are making improvements everyday.

“We’ve had a lot of new pieces to the team and were trying to put all the pieces together,” Coach Nick Cox said.

The girls have grown as players too despite their issues in the beginning. They struggled with injuries and taking criticism from other players but they are still working day- by- day still overcoming these obstacles.

“They’ve really improved on passing, and they’ve become stronger with their first contact with the ball,” Cox said.

“Returning varsity players have shown leadership skills while working with the incoming players. The biggest challenges we face as a team are health, injuries, and other interrupting after school programs such as Choir,clubs, and so on .” They have lost four players to serious injuries this season, which hurts them as a team because they can’t practice as a team or really learn from each other as people are being pulled because of their injuries.

Cathedral is their biggest competition for the season and they hope to end victorious this season.

“We’ve had a lot of new pieces to the team and were trying to put all the pieces together,” Cox said.

Junior Paris McClendon has played for LN for three years and has been on varsity since her freshman year. She hopes for a great season and to get closer with her teammates and overcome what challenges they face now.

“It was harder for incoming varsity because intensities challenged them but it just makes them stronger players,” McClendon said.

She said intensities better them as players because it makes them more competitive and more invested in every game. McClendon says they’ve grown from doing intensities and that they really help the girls focus on the game.

“They’ve worked well and I think it’s a good thing working with players that have more experience than you,” McClendon said.

She said since August they’ve become mentally stronger and understanding the injuries that they may face.

“I think our biggest problem is staying consistent, because we’re really talented but we dont show it sometimes,’’ McClendon said.

McClendon hopes they can overcome injuries and losing people to their injuries.she thinks this so they can grow as a team and learn from each other on-and-off court.

“We just want to continue the season while becoming stronger as a team, and overcome the injuries and challenges we might face” McClendon said.