On February 28, 2024, the middle school volleyball team girls were anticipating their last tournament: a three-day round trip to compete in Valdez. Three tournaments had already been canceled during their season and they were looking forward to one last competition and an opportunity to hang out and have fun as a team. But things didn’t go their way. On the morning of February 29, after all their luggage was packed, snacks were at the ready, and the girls were prepared to leave in just a few short hours, a text was sent out to the parents: the highly anticipated Valdez tournament was canceled.
The road leading to Valdez suffered from a small avalanche, causing the volleyball team to be unable to get through. It was a tragic occurrence for the middle school female student-athletes. Though the season was a bit pitiful due to repeatedly canceled tournaments, the players still managed to have fun and enjoy themselves.
“I wish it was longer because we literally only had two tournaments. My favorite memory was probably going to do the round-robin tournament in Tri-Valley,” says Jayden Kramer, an eighth-grade player. When asked how she viewed herself in the sport she said, “I think I did really well, and I’m excited for next year.”
Kathryn Ames, also one of the volleyball players in the eighth grade says, “I liked it [the volleyball season] but it was really short. I’m glad we had a lock-in because it was a fun reward for not being able to go on the trip.” She says her favorite memory was her last tournament, “because there were only two teams there and we kept winning our matches.”
A newcomer to volleyball, sixth grader Willow Garber, says “It was fun. I met a lot of new people. It was fun at one of the tournaments when everyone was sleeping, then we went into the gym and played volleyball.”
Next year, we hope the volleyball season will go a little better and a little more travel will take place, but overall, great job to the middle school volleyball. They played their hardest, won nearly all of their games, and most importantly, had fun together.