By Michelle Yin and Ronald Batista
The Malden High School Girl’s Volleyball team has already started the season off stronger than their previous years. The team entered the season with high hopes of winning more games and getting a better record for the season.
One of the captains, senior Tiffany Tortora, spoke about how this season has started off, and how “the season is already better than last year.” Totora explained that one of the team’s goals is “trying to get ready mentally and physically and realizing that [it is] time to start winning more games”, Tortora is already proud of how they have won multiple games already with the long season.
Even though the team has taken some losses, Tortora said that the team has tried to cope with their losses in a positive way. She explains how “every loss is hard, but [the team takes] the positive and rebuild on the mistakes”. With every loss the team experiences, they stay determined and grow even more motivated to win more games.
Tortora also described how even though many of the seniors graduated last year, the team has continued to improve and grow. She said that the new players have “proven [they] deserve to be on varsity and [that they] all have given a new perspective to the team”. She clarified that the team has become much closer and the team has very good chemistry.
Junior Captain Mirabelle Jean-Louis talked about the goals for herself and for the team. She hopes that she will be a great Captain, considering she is new to holding the position. She revealed that this is her third year on the team. She believes that will be “very different” because it is only her second year on the varsity team and her first year as a captain, so “it is a huge deal”. Still, one of her goals is to “really to try to be the mentor for [the] team,” Jean-Louis explained. She also included that a goal for the team is to make it to State level.
Jean-Louis is also excited for the season; she believes that it will even get better. “Just getting closer with [the] team is one of [their] main goals this year, [their] theme is really being together as a team.” For instance, at each of their games “the chant at the end, before each set is [said] together [because] that is one of [their] major goals” apart from winning games. Jean-Louis explained that the team has improved on the communication they have with one another, “so [they] all know each other really well,and [they] all hang out outside of volleyball”.
The team also has a motto which is “to forget about the last hit, the last set, the last mistake that was made and just leave it behind because there is a new set”. Jean-Louis also commented on how the team does not dwell on any of the past games but focuses on the upcoming games and how it will be better than the one before. Jean-Louis stated “[they] try really hard to focus on the positives and trying to improve on [their] mistakes instead of dwelling on the past… [their] goal..whenever [they] lose is to work harder and beat the next team.”
The team has already started off with a great start and they have won against Lynn English with the score of 3-0 and they won against Saugus. They hope that the upcoming games will be even better and that they will end the season with a better team score and record. The next game that the team will be having is on October 2nd, 2017 against Stoneham.
