This was a historic season for the girls volleyball team. They had an overall impressive record of 29-9. The girls achieved many big accomplishments in this season. For example they held the number one seed in the state for much of the year, they also won the westside invite for the first time in the schools history. Sadly they fell short at state and lost in the first round, but they will not let that take away from the success previously.
Senior setter Peyton Meyer returned from an ACL injury this season. She had a great comeback season and achieved over 1,000 career assists. She is continuing her athletic career at Towson University. She reflected on the highlights of the season for her.
“I have two main highlights of the season. Number one was going on the Phoenix trip with my team down to the Nike Tournament of Champions. Number two was playing in state, I was in a wheelchair in state last year, and I’ve never gotten to play in state before so I was incredibly grateful for that opportunity,” Meyer said.
Senior hitter Ashlyn Paymal also had a great senior season. She achieved over 1,000 career kills. She is also going to continue playing volleyball but now for Creighton University. She enjoyed her last season a lot and said what the best part was for her.
“My biggest highlight from the season was winning the Westside tournament since it was the first time ever Westside has accomplished this,” Paymal said.
It took lots of hard work for the team to have such success. They set many goals and worked hard to achieve them. Meyer also had many personal goals she wanted to accomplish during her senior year. She explained how she worked towards these goals.
“Personally, I reached my goal of getting back to playing at a high level. After my ACL injury my goal was to get back to play for my senior year and to play at the level I left at. I can proudly say I not only came back for the first game of my senior year but also came back stronger than when I left. I accomplished this by a lot of hard work and a super determined attitude. It was by far one of the hardest journeys I have been through but so worth it,” Meyer said.
Paymal focused more on goals that involved the entire team dynamic. She said they all had goals that they agreed on and worked towards throughout the year to make the team stronger together.
“Our biggest goals were consistent serving and productive, efficient offense and we accomplished this by serving 30 minutes everyday in practice and working really hard in practice, playing competitively and putting effort into hitters connecting with the setters,” Paymal said.
Obviously the team did not have the picture perfect ending of a state championship like they all had hoped for. The girls fell short in the first round of the state championship to Grand Island. They recognized some factors that led to this loss, but they are still proud of how well the team has done this year.
“I think overall we lost in the first round in state due to our mindsets. As a team we forgot that everyone in state is fighting to not let that game be their last, and we were focused on future games not the present,” Paymal said. “Obviously we did fall short of our goal in state, but before that I was very happy with what we accomplished and how hard this team worked to have the opportunity to compete against other very talented teams.”
With such an exciting season these girls hope to leave a legacy at Westside. Meyer commented on why people should always remember this group of girls.
“People should remember the individuals that made up this team. Losing early in the state tournament sucks, and should not have happened. But, it doesn’t take away from the people on this team and what they did to represent Westside all year. I think our team’s efforts to connect back to the community through the many camps we ran and also the Fun-Run we put on should be one of the biggest things that defines this year,” Meyer said.
Sadly these girls and a few more including Kat Gaughen who is committed to play at College of Saint Mary, will be graduating from Westside after this year. They have all learned many valuable lessons from being a part of this team that they will take away into the future.
“Westside volleyball has taught me a lot of lessons and I’ve built a lot of friendships and memories along the way. Overall I have learned to work hard no matter how tough it is, and to grow my mental toughness,” Paymal said.
