The Girls Varsity Volleyball team is one of many sports offered at Oakdale High School. Through hard work and dedication, girls are able to compete in matches, gain teamwork skills, and meet new student athletes around the building. The Oakdale Volleyball team has been growing in popularity in recent years, and the season has started back up.

The volleyball team requires commitment and hard work. Athletes are expected to put in hard work and commitment to practice and attend games, to improve their skills and beat opposing teams at games. The team has games twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays and their practices are held the rest of the weekday; Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with their Practices lasting from an hour and a half to two hours.

Practices typically consist of warm ups and stretching to help athletes keep their muscles healthy for the upcoming games. Sophomore Prerana Nilka-Hache, shares, “We focus on improving and do ‘practice’ games that focus on skills that need improvement.” Practices are time to focus on smaller details to change so they can be better for upcoming games.

Participating in a varsity sport takes lots of dedication. Nilka-Hache originally tried out for the team in her freshman year. She made varsity her first year, and continued on into her sophomore year. However, not all athletes make varsity first year, as Sophomore Hannah LeSage, comments, “When I originally joined, I was on JV, but I couldn’t play because I was injured. This year when I tried out, I made varsity.” Making the varsity team requires skill, preparation, and commitment.

Games are very exciting and important for the team as LeSage describes, “Home games are really exciting, we always have team dinners before in the cafeteria.”

During games, the players will start by watching the JV team play against their opponent, before stretching and running to the court for the start of their game. Players will shake hands with their opposing teams to show a sign of respect, and the game starts after a coin flip to decide who gets first serve.

One of the great aspects of the team are the team bonding experiences that the students get. Nilka-Hache inputs, “I think our team does a really good job at bonding with each other and with JV. We often go out to eat at hibachi and Chick-Fil-a or go to baseball and football games.” One of the activities the team did together this year was going to an Orioles game. The girls were able to sit together and enjoy the experience of the game.

The Volleyball team is an enjoyable and thrilling experience for athletes to try out. LeSage mentions, “It’s a really fun sport, and I feel like the competitive energy and everything that goes into it, can help to distract me from other things. It’s really helped me a lot.” The sport allows for student athletes to have a fun experience while getting exercise and practicing team working skills.