{"id":40752,"date":"2022-09-29T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=40752"},"modified":"2022-09-29T06:01:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T10:01:00","slug":"wrhs-volleyballers-off-to-7-1-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2022\/09\/29\/wrhs-volleyballers-off-to-7-1-start\/","title":{"rendered":"WRHS volleyballers off to 7-1 start"},"content":{"rendered":"
By John Orrell <\/b>
\n Landmark Correspondent<\/i><\/div>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 Looking for a Wachusett Regional High School sports that team you can wrap your arms around? One that brings enthusiasm, talent and is just plain fun to watch?<\/p>\n

That could be just about any of the school\u2019s teams, but try the often unheralded WRHS girls\u2019 varsity volleyball team, which has built a 7-1 record following its 3-0 defeat of visiting Hudson High on Sept. 22. The Mountaineer girls have combined veteran and younger players in a perfect blend that entertains from start to finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s tons of chemistry on this team,\u201d said head coach Jennifer Burton. \u201cI told them when I picked the team that they each have a role, and that they\u2019re all here for a very specific reason. They\u2019re best of friends every day, whether it\u2019s on the court or off, and they\u2019re a talented group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that Hudson was going to be a strong team. We always have strong matches against Hudson. We knew that they were going to serve tough and that we couldn\u2019t make mistakes. We had to play our game. There were times that we fell behind, and what I love seeing from this group is their ability to come back. It makes them really believe in themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leadership out here is great. We have eight seniors, and I always tell them that senior leadership is going to make or break any team. We have a nice mix of younger kids as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scores in the victory over the Hawks were 25-19, 25-18 and 25-21. Highlights of the match included Ella Laramee with 5 kills, 4 blocks and 2 aces. Paige Tower chipped in with 15 digs.<\/p>\n

The senior co-captains of this squad tell the team\u2019s story best.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis (game with Hudson) wasn\u2019t our best, but we pulled through with a win,\u201d said Rose O\u2019Malley. \u201cThe victories help a lot. At practice we feel more motivated for the upcoming week. We take the wins and put them in the past and get ready for practice the next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I like most about this team is our chemistry. We\u2019ve been best friends since our freshman year. We\u2019ve grown as players together. We\u2019ve matured as players together. We\u2019ve played club volleyball together, and it feels like we\u2019re all best friends, and I really appreciate that. It\u2019s a really special thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an emotional aspect on the court that can make or break a game. If one person\u2019s off in volleyball, then everyone else is off, so it\u2019s important to build energy during games,\u201d added setter Allie Johnson. \u201cIf someone has a bad serve, it\u2019s important to bring them back up, because that takes a toll on the entire team whether you\u2019re on the bench or on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re more excited to play than we are nervous. These games are fun to watch and to play. But we have to prep in practice. A lot of us have worked hard in the offseason, and they know it\u2019s a competition for a spot. The girls that make the team are eager to win. It\u2019s a different type of determination we have this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs captains we try to have our team work hard in practice and in games,\u201d said Logan Baker. \u201cWe have some young kids on the team, and they\u2019re all getting used to the culture of working hard as the season progresses. I can see that everyone comes to practice and takes it seriously. Work ethic is super high on this team. Everyone puts their best in day in and day out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis season means a lot to me because we\u2019ve been together for four years. Finally we\u2019re having our senior season and getting back to normal from the past two years and being together. Especially with the younger kids, we\u2019re in a position to help them grow as players, and that is really meaningful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The positives that swirl among this team cannot be overstated, according to players, coaches and team supporters. It\u2019s a likeable lineup filled with high octane energy and enthusiasm. Look for an exciting second half to the season for these Mountaineer volleyballers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis team gets better every single day,\u201d said Burton. \u201cThey learn something new about themselves, and I like that they always want to try new things. I love that they love competing. They\u2019re really quality kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the 2022 Wachusett Regional High girls\u2019 varsity volleyball team are Emerson Allyn, Rose O\u2019Malley, Allie Johnson, Ella Laramee, Lily Davidson, Brooke Laidlaw, Miranda Cary, Vivianne Zhou, Logan Baker, Chase Garabedian, Paige Tower, Rebecca Wright, Claire Michalowski, Kaelin Pousland, Hannah Best and Sophie Jenkins.<\/p>\n

Captains are Johnson, O\u2019Malley and Baker. Head coach is Jennifer Burton, assisted by Mike Taylor, Jessica Stanley and Olivia Smith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOLDEN \u2014 Looking for a Wachusett Regional High School sports that team you can wrap your arms around? One that brings enthusiasm, talent and is just plain fun to watch? That could be just about any of the school\u2019s teams, but try the often unheralded WRHS girls\u2019 varsity volleyball team, which has built a 7-1 record following its 3-0 defeat of visiting Hudson High on Sept. 22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}