Highlands High School

Ella Cox and Kayla Lehn|August 25, 2022 As you walk into the gym, you hear shoes squeak, and people yelling, “Mine!” as the hitter smashes the ball to the ground. These are all sounds that can be heard from the Highlands Volleyball Team. This season will be filled with nothing but excitement. As our birds move on into the season, they are getting adjusted to not having as many home games this year compared to last season. Junior Davis Speiss talked about her excitement for the season and her goals. “I’m very excited for this season and have very high hopes. I need to improve on my blocking for this season to keep our defense strong. I’m hoping the team can stay strong on defense and also stay aggressive offensively.” For the rest of the season, the program has a total of 12 away games and 4 home games this year. Senior Kenzi Vennefron, discussed how away games could have an impact on the players. “There might be a little influence since playing in our gym is normal to us, but overall I don’t think so. The most influential thing about home games is that we have an OZONE to cheer us on, but at away games, we don’t have that energy.” The freshman team currently has a record of 0-1 and Junior Varsity (JV) and Varsity with 2-1. The teams have high hopes for the rest of the season. With a total of 32 players in the program, all teams have high expectations. They’ve spent a lot of time prepping for upcoming games that will be challenging. Freshman Cayden McIntosh shared her opinion on the most challenging game this season. “I think the most challenging game this season is going to be either Ryle or St. Henry because it’ll be some good competition.” After the 9 seniors graduated last year and with a whole new coaching staff, the program had to make some adjustments. 8th grader Taylor Janosick talked about how it felt playing on the freshman team as an 8th grader. “I was really excited because it was such a great opportunity and I could meet new people but I was also sad because I was not able to play in my 8th-grade year with all my teammates.” The next volleyball games are tonight at 5:00, 6:00, and 7:00 at Scott High School.