HOLDEN — When the Wachusett Regional High girls varsity volleyball team concludes its 2023 season several weeks from now, players, coaches and team supporters may well point to their Sept. 14 matchup with visiting Groton-Dunstable High as a huge momentum builder.
The Mountaineer volleyballers found themselves trailing by near double-digits in the early goings of the contest, resulting in head coach Jen Burton’s decision to call a timeout to right the ship before it was too late. Whatever Burton told her crew worked, as the squad came out firing on all cylinders, winning the match 3-2 to up their season record to 2-2.
“We needed to pick it up after a slow start. When we called a timeout, I let them know that they needed to pick it up or it was going to be a long night,” Burton said. “They responded, and it all worked out after that.”
“We just started a little slow,” added senior co-captain Claire Michalowski. “Our mental game wasn’t there. I think we picked things up, really giving a big effort. Coming together as a team pushed together our minds to pick up our play.
“We won our first game (of the season), and then we were a little rocky last two, so this was a lift up for all our spirits. Groton-Dunstable played really well, so coming back and winning in five was huge.”
Scoring on the night for Wachusett was 23-25, 25-14, 32-30, 20-25 and 15-13. Individual scoring was Saphirra Jahnar (15 digs), Chase Garabedian (4 aces, 7 kills), Lily Davidson (6 aces, 9 kills) and Michalowski (11 kills, 11 digs). Arguably the most exciting moments occurred in the third set, where both teams exchanged leads until the Mountaineers finally pulled out a 32-30 victory.
Garabedian was chosen as game MVP and was presented a game ball award for her efforts.
“We just work together really well,” said senior co-captain Ella Laramee of the team’s cohesiveness. “We started really slow but picked it up with a lot of energy. Coming together was awesome to see. In the fifth set, we all worked our butts off to show that we could do it, and we proved it.”
One area that is vital for success in volleyball as much as any other sport is communication. Teammates must be aware of their fellow players’ locations, and that’s an area that the team focuses on both in games and practices.
“You need to be talking all the time because you’re going to run into each other, and the biggest part is that we really have that down as a team,” Garabedian, a senior co-captain, explained. “In the first set, we weren’t really communicating, but we managed to pick it up and you can see the results.
“We needed to show them that we owned this court and we are Wachusett.”
Members of the 2023 Wachusett Regional High girls varsity volleyball team are Sapphira Jahner, Riley Bisnette, Ella Laramee, Lily Davidson, Brooke Laidlaw, Delaney McGee, Rebecca Wright, Emily Rakic, Chase Garabedian, Hannah Best, Alise Galena and Claire Michalowski. Team captains are Ella Laramee, Chase Garabedian and Claire Michalowski. Head coach is Jennifer Burton, assisted by Mike Taylor, Lindsey Thunberg, Olivia Smith and Julie Graham. Team manager is Jack Greene.
