For the first time in three years, the
According to coach David Winn, their success came down to a good game plan, a strong start, and a sense of motivation.
The team’s game plan consisted of a scouting report, as they had watched LAHS’ other matches, which allowed them to understand the weak and strong points of their rival team before the match. This then converted into a plan of action that the volleyball team could implement into the match.
“I felt confident that if we executed our game plan, we would have a good chance of winning,” Winn said. “We committed to our plan in the first set and that set a good tone.”
MVHS won the first set 25-19, which Winn said was a huge confidence boost for the team as it was a set which lacked major errors and they were able to “shut down” one of LAHS’ starting hitter.
However, the second set was when their lead started to get away from them. Winn stated that the loss of this set was due to slight over-confidence and tightness, which he said that he tried to eliminate in the following sets by keeping them focused on their game plan.
According to co-captain senior Kyra Palmbush, however, losing this set was actually beneficial to their win.
“[The loss of the set] motivated us to finish out the game strong and it was the push we needed to come back,” Palmbush said.
The last two sets, Winn said, were not easy, but the confidence that they had built early on in the match helped them to finish with a win. The last set was especially close, with the two teams tied up until 19 points all. However, MVHS managed to pull ahead.
“We played with so much poise and so much energy,” Winn said. “The whole bench was loud and it was a really fun game to watch.”
Winn said that this match gave the team greater confidence going into future games as this is the team’s first win in a higher bracket with more competitive teams.
As a senior, Palmbush also found this win to be especially rewarding as she remembers the last time that the MVHS team beat LAHS in a league match.
“I think that this was a special win because we beat our rivals and I was there when [the MVHS team] last beat [LAHS], which comes full circle for me,” Palmbush said.