Although the Malden High School girl’s volleyball season has gotten off to a rough start, the volleyball team still remains positive.
Head coach Dan Jurkowski, says the season is not going as great as expected. “There has been a lot of losses but the girls are staying positive. We’re trying to get better everyday.” The team still has 6 games and are hoping to end the season with a win. Jurkowski says the team has faced many challenges.
“[The team] won 16 games last year. So, expectations were a little high this year when we came into the season,” Jurkowski said. The team lost many seniors from graduation. So the biggest challenge for the team this year is to just get everybody playing time.
Jurkowski explained that the team remains with great attitudes the entire time. “We’re hoping to finish up the season strong.”
The goals for the volleyball team is to end the season well and win a couple games. Jurkowski said that “[they] have a couple GBL opponents left. [They] played Everett and Medford. So [their] goal is to win those two games and try to win a couple other games before the season ends.”
Jurkowski said the team’s strength is their good attitudes. The team’s weakness is learning how to serve. “Even just communicating on the floor is something that we been working on all year and we’ve gotten a little bit better but still, it needs to improve.”
Jurkowski’s advice for those who might want to join is, “Volleyball is a great game that you can always play, so I encourage everyone to play.”
Senior Grace Melo, who is one of the three captains, has been apart of the volleyball team for four years. Melo decided to play volleyball her freshman year because it was a great opportunity to meet new people and also be active in the school.
Melo said that “so far for varsity, it’s not [their] best season but it does not mean [they are] not putting in effort. The team is good and it has potential. There’s just little things that [they] need to work on. Same goes for junior varsity and freshmen. All the effort is there it’s just about putting it all together and working as a team with one another to achieve success.”
Junior Tiffany Tortora, who is also one of the three captains, has been apart of the volleyball team for three years. She was influenced by her sister to play volleyball, who also played on the team. According to Tortora, the season so far, is not what the team expected it to be.
“It’s not going bad, but it’s not going what we had expected, but [she] feel like as a team [they are] doing good but [she doesn’t] think [their] record reflects how [they have] been doing,” Tortora said.
“[The team] is good at communicating and our weaknesses is more being on court,” Tortora explained. To Tortora, volleyball “is the best thing [one] could do all four years of high school because it creates bonds that will last for a long time.”
Senior Sarah Beaton is the last of the captains, who has also been apart of the volleyball team for four years. Beaton was self-inspired to join the volleyball team. When asked about how the season is going, Beaton responds with “overall, it’s going pretty well, but it could be doing better.”
The volleyball team has made improvements since the season started. Beaton said that “[they] lost the awkwardness of being on a team with each other and gained a bond with one another.” Her advice for others who may want to join is that the sport gives you a reason to make a team more like a family.
Even though the volleyball players are off to a rough start in the season, they’re staying positive and MHS looks forward to the rest of the season.
