Lady Irish volleyball team work to head back to the state tournament.
By: Isabelle Nussbaum
The 2023-24 Sacred Heart Volleyball Team consists of (first row, L-R): Seniors Addison Keller, Annika Reschke, Jentry Lechtenberg, Adisen Fischer, and Destry Groth. (second row, L-R): Juniors Brookelyn Bebermeyer and Daycee Witt, Sophomores Alise Reschke, Dorothy Crouse, and Isabelle Nussbaum. (third row, L-R): Sophomores Emersyn Courtney and Hallie Jones, Freshmen Ryann Westengaard, Jade Romo, and Milayna Crofford.
After an upsetting defeat at last year’s district final against Wallace, the Lady Irish are working to make it back to the state tournament, and hopefully bring back some hardware. The fifteen girls on the team are challenged to meet the high expectations they have set for each other.
Last season the team finished with an 18-16 record. With a win to Sterling and loss to HTRS in sub districts, the team had enough wildcard points to play in the district final. The Irish fought hard but unfortunately were defeated. “I am proud of every team for different reasons! Last year’s team may have fallen short of state, but they showed lots of improvement!” Head Coach Emma Ebel said. “Any time you show up and work hard for the sake of the team is a good year! I truly loved coming to practice every day also and not every coach can say that.”
Last season, the team of nineteen lost three seniors and eight other players. With a transfer and three freshmen, the team is going to have to put in a lot of hard work, dedication, and positivity to come out on top. This year’s lineup consists of five seniors, two juniors, five sophomores, and three freshmen “We lost a good group of seniors, but I feel like we’re having a ton of players step up to fill roles,” Senior Destry Groth said. “Being able to adapt and communicate through it is key to a team being successful.”
The ultimate goal for the Irish is to have hard fights and small wins, leading the team back through sub districts, the district final, to the state tournament, and the final game, Championship Saturday. “We have to learn to be consistent even when things aren’t going well; We have to get the mental mindset of competing every ball!” Ebel said,” And being a consistent kind of aggressive that scores points instead of costing them.”
