Girls’ volleyball program making amazing strides

By Luke Tan ‘24

As the W+H Junior Varsity and Varsity Volleyball teams head into the remaining part of their season, they look to continue capitalizing on and adjusting to a variety of changes: the departure of the former head coach and the addition of new assistant coach Shane Tonery, increased numbers of newer players within JV, and the lack upperclassmen of all but one senior, Cherice Clarke ’23.

In adapting to these changes, the teams have seen some success overcoming early season difficulties, with JV having won its first game in a major matchup against New Brunswick on September 29 after a string of narrowly lost sets.

Captain Hannah Yin ‘24 noted the improvements she had seen which helped lead to the victory: “We had a lot of new players join from all grades, with some having never played volleyball before, but many of these new players have become starters on JV and some play on varsity as well.”

Heidi Pan ‘24, a varsity player, further explained: “The girls on the team have worked incredibly hard this season. Some without any experience with the sport adapted quickly and our teams this year have evidently been stronger than ever!”

Although Head Coach Raquel Belo foresees a few “developmental years” for the newer players, he expressed pride in the rapid progress of the team and looks forward to watching her athletes’ skills “click” through continued training.

Elyssa Ortega ‘26, a new member of the team, said: “There’s definitely been a lot of improvement since the beginning of the season and it shows, considering JV just won their first game and varsity has been doing amazing. I’d say our games and even practices are showing just how far we’ve come!”

The varsity team has been excelling with a record of 5-3, emerging as victors from matches with several difficult opponents. But the Rams are not content with stagnation. They will be competing in the Prep B tournament soon.

Hannah Yin ’23 explained, “This tournament will allow us to “play up” and challenge ourselves. Through this, I’m confident that we can progress as a team to discover our weaknesses and better our strengths.”

The W+H volleyball teams hope to continue seeing their hard work pay off as they keep developing as a team.