Written By Zara Khemlani

The Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team has started off the season undefeated, with two 3-0 victories against both Albany Academy and the Long Island Lutheran High School. Led by Coach Guilherme Vieira Lima and Coach Jacob Childress, the team is looking forward to an exciting and eventful fall season. 

When reflecting on pre-season, Captain Maleah Dunkley ‘27 shared the importance of the team’s use of speed ball as a practice drill. Dunkley explained that the exercise involves many quick rotations and fast serves. She commented, “I feel that this drill was really important…because you get a lot of opportunities to play in a short amount of time, and it gets really competitive while being fast paced and high intensity volleyball.”

Captain Chase Tucker ‘27 highlighted some of the strengths of this year’s team, including “their tenacity and also their versatility.” She stated, “every player is willing to try out new positions and they adapt very quickly, so it is exciting to see everyone progress.”

When asked about her main goal as one of this year’s leaders, Dunkley shared, “As a captain, I would say this year it is my main goal to support my team towards our collective goals, and also obviously support each and every individual player on the court.” 

“The seniors have been playing on this team together for three, four, or even five years, so we’re all super excited for Wildcat Weekend and our game against Nightingale Bamford,” Tucker shared while reflecting on her past seasons playing for the Varsity Volleyball team.  

Dunkley echoed this sentiment and commented, “People often say volleyball is the most “team sport” because you can not win a game with just one person.” 

In October, the team has many competitions planned against Greenwich Academy, Hamden Hall, Holy Child, the King School, Masters, Frederick Gunn, and more. Good luck to the Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team for the remainder of their season. Go Wildcats!