By MOLLY WALLACE
Six out of the 11 boys step on to the court as the district games come to an end. Although experiencing losses in these games, the comradery stays strong.
“We had arguably the hardest district in the state so if we could’ve gotten [passed] districts, I feel we would have had a real good shot at going to the state championship game,” coach Nathan Kyle said.
The record of 6-12 impresses senior James McCann compared to his first outlook on the season, which he claims he came into hesitant as a new volleyball player.
“I knew we had a lot of work to do and luckily we improved as the season went on,” McCann said.
The team’s strong point, according to McCann and Kyle, was prior knowledge of the game; having four or five players who have played the game for over eight years contributed to their skill. In junior Joel Camy’s eyes though, a team weakness also arose: recovery.
“We have good athleticism, the more we play the more experience we show, but we have a hard time recovering from our mistakes,” Camy said.
Bishop Moore, the leading team in the district, was a tough loss of 0-3 for the team. Although senior Carlos D. Roman had nine digs, players stress is was a tough battle.
“Bishop Moore [was our hardest game] because they are ridiculously good,” senior Solomon Attaway said. “They are very skilled and at the time of the game we were lacking skill.”
Starting the season with a 3-0 win against Timber Creek kept the players excited. In this game, sophomore Zachary Robinson had 27 assists to junior Matt Combs who had 12 kills and 7 aces. Following a 3-0 win against Lake Nona, at the Dr. Phillips Invitational, where the team played well, also kept players hopeful.
“I would not single out one game in particular as our best, but [I would single out] the Dr. Phillips Invitational Tournament. We went in their seed [placing] 11th out of 12 teams, and ended up finishing fourth,” Kyle said.
In games such as Colonial, 3-0, Combs proved beneficial with 14 kills and 6 aces. Camy states that the comradery of the team also proved beneficial in this match and showed its power to defeat an opponent.
“When someone is down or has problems doing what they want to achieve, there is always someone there to pick them up,” Camy said.
According to McCann and Kyle, key players who act like team leaders are there to pick the players up too. In key games like the 3-1 win against Ocoee, Attaway proved a positive leader when the team would give up points.
“Solomon Attaway has shown to be a good team leader. He and I are always positive and I think that benefits our team’s performance,” McCann said.
Kyle is happy with the outcome of the season. With over 90 percent of the team playing club volleyball in the off-season, he claims it was a good team to coach.
“Having team experience and knowing how to play with each other is probably the hardest part of the game. A good player has a good game, while a good team has a good season,” Kyle said.
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