Coming off incredibly strong this year, it is without a doubt the girls best year as a team and as victors. It is the very first year ever that they have become Greater Boston League champions and have made it to states. In their detrimental times of playing volleyball together, the team has used new strategies and different techniques to become better as individual players and resplendent as a whole team. Senior player, Monique Knight Bailey, says that she always tells the girls to just stay calm and to not get nervous before games. “When we get nervous we don’t play well but when were positive with each other we’re fine,” senior Kaitlyn Weng says. Although team’s biggest weakness is the stress they undergo during games whenever they lose their momentum, Weng assures that “it brings [them] down” while also “[pushing them] back up.”
Matthew Sadowski, coach and Malden High guidance counselor, played volleyball in high school and also played in college. “He has a lot of skill”, says Weng, “and he uses it to teach us.” Bailey says that all the girls enjoy it when he plays and interacts with them during practices because not only is it enjoyable for the team but it is also a way for the girls to learn more in depth. “A lot of coaches don’t do that,” she says about Sadowski joining the girls in an occasional practice, while also including that they have a really good time with him when he does. Before games, the girls practice their serves, sets, hitting lines, and communicate positively with each other to thrive in future games. Although the girls lost during the state tournament, the girls finished strong and are ending on positive note, stay tuned for an update on the girls final game.
