The Malden Girls Varsity Volleyball Team is starting off the season strong and hoping to become GBL Champions this year. Led by coach and MHS guidance counselor Matthew Sadowski, the girls are feeling confident in themselves this season. Sadowski has been coaching girls volleyball for 4 years now and he feels confident that the girls will qualify for the state tournaments this year. He knows that the girls are determined to practice hard and work on their communication to plow through the other teams.
Sadowski had played volleyball during high school and college and has developed a passion for the sport which is why he decided to take up coaching it. He appreciates this year’s team commitment to the sport, their teamwork, their hard work, and their great attitude. There are still some things that the team needs to work on such as communication, serving, and passing the ball to others. He feel that there are some very strong players on the team like seniors Kaitlyn Weng and Aryzona MacDonald for defense, junior Brianna Grant as setter, senior Diamond Jones for points, and junior Victoria Tortora as blocker.He has set up goals for his team to improve their skills and to win the GBL for Malden.
Weng tells newer players to “never give up, always work hard, and to work for what [they] want because nothing is… free.” Weng is confident that the team will make it to the State tournaments and become GBL Champions. She enjoys volleyball because of the stress-free atmosphere and the fact that she can spend extra time with her friends. She also feels that her team is more of a big family that always stick together, even when they lose a game. Weng will make the most of this school year because it is her last year here at Malden High School.
Jones wants the team to improve in their skills like passing and serving so they can later become GBL Champs. Jones herself wants to improve on her passing skills even though she says that she will probably never be able to. When asked what her favorite thing about volleyball is, she responded,” The game itself.” Last year, Jones says that everyone was shy and not so motivated, but this year she says that everyone is very motivated to become GBL Champions. She says that the players on the team believe in each other and believe that they could do better.
The girls spend lots of time practicing their skill sets before game to help improve their setting, blocking, passing, and serving. They are really determined to become champions because last year was not a good season for them. They reflect on their past mistakes to better improve themselves so they can make it to States this year. They’re confident that they’re going to do the best that they possibly can this year as opposed to last year. We wish the volleyball team good luck on their journey to the state tournaments and representing Malden when they become the GBL Champions.
