On Thursday September 16th Ukiah High Schools Freshman/Sophomore and Junior Varsity volleyball team played West County at Ukiah High School’s gym.
The Freshman/Sophmore team lost playing only two matches, scores being 14-25 for the first and 22-25 for the second. The Junior Varsity won the game going to three matches, losing the first being 20-25, winning the second 25-14, and winning the third 15-11.
Maddie Carol, freshman player on the Frosh/Soph team thought that they played well and that they communicated well as a whole. She thinks that they could improve on competing “smarter not harder” and on making the right plays. Carol would like to shout out teammate Mackenzie Binkley for her work and effort on the court where Binkley played libero for this game.
Frosh/Soph Coach Katie Williams says “I think we did pretty good. I think there’s always room for improvement when you play a really good game, and things that we can work on, and that’s what makes a team good.” Comparing and contrasting previous games against Windsor, Coach Williams said, “I think that already from the previous game against Windsor we have improved a lot. We got a lot more serves-in and ran through balls which were things we did not do in the Windsor game,” Coach Williams says.
When Coach Williams was asked how they could improve in future game,s she said that the players could improve on energy, “West County had a lot of energy and it might have come off intimidating to us, trying to maintain own energy.” Coach Williams celebrated Mackenzie Binkley, sophomore libero, for playing well and going above and beyond by diving and getting good touches on the ball. Coach Williams also spotlighted Adie Gordon for her good plays and marked improvement.
Junior Varsity Coach Molly Thomas observed the team played the best they have all season and implemented strategies that they had practiced the previous day. “All the athletes maintained a high level of intensity and energy that ultimately let us win,” Coach Thomas said. Coach Thomas thought that the JV team could improve on being more aggressive offensively and making smarter decisions.
Josie Bogner, back row player on the JV team reflected saying “I think we played pretty good. We were working pretty well together. I think we had a couple of instances when we let the ball drop and I think it’s just a matter of communication” Bogner thought that players Emma Nyborg had good hits and that Railey Capri had an amazing block right at the end that won the last point.
If you want to see Wildcat Volleyball in action, the community is invited to attend this Thursday match against St. Vincent in the Ukiah High Gym at 4:30 p.m.
