Freshman Volleyball Continues to Impress

by Mark Steinbach, FR
Not enough people are talking about what has been a remarkable story in BHS athletics, this year: the dominance of the girls’ freshmen volleyball team. As of mid-October the freshmen volleyball still has not lost a game, posting an impressive and somewhat surprising record of 7-0.

“We are successful because we communicate well with each other. This allows us to set up plays that win points,” says setter Nadia Eshraghi. “We have good serves that give us aces many times.” The team seems to perform and execute in every important aspect of the sport, serving and setting effectively, while also establishing good communication on the court. With Burlington lacking an organized youth volleyball league for girls and the program being rather new to BHS, this success seems to have come out of nowhere. Is it a surprise? “Yeah, it is a surprise,” says setter Lauren Utley, “but we just keep getting better, so now we expect to win every time we take the court.”

The improvement of this team certainly has to be traced back partly to the coach, Pat Magee. “He’s a great tip-giver,” says Nadia, “He tells us how to improve on certain skill areas and when he sees a problem, he works until it’s fixed.” Says Lauren, “He gives us all equal playing time and that brings us together because no one thinks they’re better than anyone else on the team.”

Overall, the success of this freshmen team is a very good sign for the still young volleyball program at BHS. If this dominance continues, the future looks very bright for the program in the near-future and beyond.