The volleyball team is off to a hot start this season. After their impressive sweep win over Lincoln Southeast a few weeks ago they moved into the No. 1 seed in Nebraska. This was a pivotal moment in the team’s history because they haven’t been the No. 1 team since 1985. They have also never won a state championship which the team has set their sights on for this season.
Senior setter Peyton Meyer had a great game against the Lincoln Southeast Silverhawks. She had a total of 36 assists and three aces in the match. Meyer was definitely happy with the team’s success but has bigger goals in mind.
“It feels great to earn the No. 1 spot but ultimately it holds no real significance,” Meyer said. “The goal is to be No. 1 on Nov.9 and we are trying to keep that the main thing.”
Their head coach Andrew Wehrli definitely agrees with Meyers mindset. He is proud of what they have accomplished so early but is solely focused on the team being at its very peak in the state tournament.
“Honestly, I don’t care what we are. I want to win three matches in November, the last three matches, that’s all,” Wehrli said.
Another senior player, hitter Ashlyn Paymal, has a bit of a different perspective. She sees the ranking as an important component to their team in their season right now. She also hopes that it will help push them through their season with pride.
“It gives the team a lot of confidence being No. 1 going into the rest of the season,” Paymal said. “It feels good to know others think highly of our team and believe we have solid talent.”
This high rank did not come easily to the team. They definitely have had lots of success early in their season, but this comes from all of their hard work outside of the matches. Paymal recognizes how much effort the team has put in so far.
“We worked so hard physically and mentally throughout the past couple of months to be prepared for this season,” Paymal said. “We’ve been spending a lot of time in and out of the gym to improve our performance against other teams.”
Wehrli is very proud of how the team is shaping up over the beginning of the season. He believes the team has lots of talent and are great competitors so far. He is finding value in all of his players from freshman to seniors.
“This team has more depth than any team I have ever coached,” Wherli said. “Our freshmen are capable of stepping in and competing, our juniors are really picking up the slack, it is really impressive what we are able to do in the practice gym.”
Their next match was against the No.7 Millard North Mustangs. The Warriors played hard but lost in heartbreaker fashion to the fierce competitor. The Mustangs took control of the game early on and took victory in the first two sets. In the third set the Warriors looked to make a comeback and won 25-19. In the fourth and final set the team could not push back enough to win and took the loss by only five points. This would move their record to 10-2, which soon lost them their top seed to Papillion LaVista South. The team is definitely reflecting hard on this loss but they won’t let it influence the rest of their season.
“The loss to Millard North is one that our team is not taking lightly. After that game we addressed a lot of leadership and team dynamic things that will help us be more successful as the season progresses,” Meyer said. “Losses are never ideal but we are taking the loss as a lesson and moving on to the games ahead.”
Meyer sees that there are many things the team can strive to improve upon to ensure that they not only get their top seed back soon, but ultimately hold it at the end of the year when they really need it.
“There are a lot of things that still need to be addressed and worked on to maintain a high ranking but ultimately we are taking it one day at a time. Coach is constantly reminding us to shut out all other noise and focus on getting better everyday,” Meyer said.
The team is confident that they can get back to their top seed with more hard work and evaluation. They are looking forward to their next games where they can bounce back and show everyone that they deserve to hold that No.1 rank.
“We’ve reevaluated our team chemistry and reset as a team,” Paymal said. “We have a very busy next couple weeks, so we are excited to be able to prove ourselves over these next games.”
