Volleyball Preseason

The beach volleyball season is underway, and after pre-season and tryouts, it has now been decided who made the official team. Anyone who wanted to could join the practice team, but during tryouts, it was decided who would make it to the actual team. Many showed up, both new and old players.

Two of the players who shared their experiences are seniors Ava Amesse and Marley Socarras. They talked about how pre-season was, how they experienced tryouts, and what goals they have for the season.

Pre-season consisted mostly of strength training and conditioning. Amesse said,“It was a lot of weight room and conditioning from our coaches. I guess the coach just wanted us to focus on getting our vertical up, so just things focused around that.” There was a lot of focus on jumping higher and becoming more explosive. Socarras says that there were also a lot of new people who tried out, and that “everyone just had a really good time and we all became much closer than we were before, which was really fun.” The team got to know each other better through the workouts.

Both believe the team has improved since last year. Amesse said, “I think since last year a lot of people have improved just because they’ve been putting in the time,” noting that several have been training consistently throughout the year. Socarras adds, “Compared to last beach season, definitely a bunch of the girls have gotten their vertical up or got to hit harder, and it’s really cool [to] watch.” More are jumping higher and hitting harder than before.

They also feel they themselves have improved. Amesse said, “I think I’ve gotten better with my swing, like getting my arms back and swinging my arms to get my vertical higher, so I think my swinging has definitely improved.” Socarras particularly notices that she is moving faster: “It’s nice to see how much faster I’m getting to the ball and how much faster my feet are moving.”

Tryouts were a bit challenging because of the weather. Amesse said, “The weather was really terrible and freezing,” but thought it was fun to see everyone try their best. Socarras agrees, saying, “The wind was not good to plan. The rain was kind of fun, though.” Even though it was cold and windy, everyone did their best.

When it comes to goals for the season, Amesse wants to play smarter. She said, “My personal goal is definitely playing smarter like placement-wise and also focusing on my service receive and getting deep deep balls.” Socarras has a different focus: “My personal goal is probably just to have, like, a good attitude throughout it all and to play my best with the people that I put with.”

The team’s atmosphere is described as both friendly and competitive. Amesse said, “We all know each other pretty well and have a good atmosphere,” but adds that a little competition is good because it makes them better. Socarras said, “We can goof off, practice, still being competitive, so it definitely has a lot of laughter. It’s really fun.”

All in all, the pre-season has been characterized by hard training and good teamwork. Now that the team is set, the players are ready to start the season.