By EMILY O’LOANE
After over 15 years at both Conway Middle School and Boone, coach Joan Verity ushered in her last season coaching boys volleyball.
Several players on the team, including junior Matthew Love and sophomore Tyler Patz, had Verity as a coach in middle school as well as high school.
“[At practice,] I just tell the boys what they’re doing wrong and help them to fix it. If you do well in practice, you should do well in a game,” Verity said.
Ending the season with a winning record of 11-9, the boy’s varsity volleyball team lost to Dr. Phillips in the metro conference championship on April 29.
“Our season started off not that well, but we got stronger as a team. The seniors helped us a lot; we’ll usually talk to our captains [before games] and they tell us to keep our heads up,” freshman Matthew Combs said.
The loss to Dr. Phillips was preceded by a win against Cypress Creek on April 28, which moved them farther into metro competition. This win was an improvement from the Dr. Phillips Invite on March 12 and 13 where the team first began its season.
“Our weakest game was in our tournament at the beginning of the season. No one talked to each other on the court, we couldn’t pass, couldn’t hit. It was our first game as a team, and we didn’t do so well,” Combs said.
Left hitter Ryan Simpson and setter Dalton Hammer led the team as captains. Both are four-year players. During the Olympia game on April 16, Hammer had 15 assists, bringing his total assists to over 70 for the season. Simpson had 124 kills and 40 blocks total this season.
“Our toughest opponent was Olympia. They always seem to do well in states. They have a strong team and we didn’t play so well against them. We couldn’t get our offense or defense to work,” Simpson said.
The team credits several different teams as being their rivals, including Timber Creek, Dr. Phillips and Winter Park. The team played Timber Creek on April 27 and lost 0-3. The team credits these losses to their weakness in communication, passing and hitting that pervaded the entire season. Only through practice was the team able to improve these weaknesses.
“Hitting was our biggest strength. Passing wasn’t great but we did what we had to do. We practiced passing more than anything,” Hammer said.
With their goal of having a winning season met, Verity’s last season coaching proves to be a successful one.
“I tried to put some passion into them, make sure they enjoy the game and show them how passionate I am. Hopefully they’ll take from that,” Verity said.