This year’s number six nationally ranked Lady Lions Volleyball Team is so excited to be featured in a game being played on ESPN. On Friday at nine o’clock, four of the top ranked teams will be playing two games at the field house. These teams have been selected based on the top four rankings last year. Since the lions were ranked number one, they were selected.
The whole purpose of these games is to get more attention on high school girls volleyball. Since these girls are going to be playing on national television, it is important to know what you need to do and win. The girls have been practicing later in the evening in order to be prepared for these games due to their game being late at night. Junior Macaria Spears says, “We’ve been in practice everyday preparing ourselves for the cathedral, making sure to work on things that we need to get better at, and just preparing ourselves mentally, and physically for the game. This game is at night and these girls have to prepare themselves to play at a later time than normal.
With this opportunity comes excitement and nerves. It can be scary to play a game on national television, but some people like it and some people don’t. Junior Taylor Cook says, “I am actually very excited because I get to play in front of a big crowd with big energy and have the opportunity to play on television.” This type of mindset will be very good to have because this will allow a certain type of confidence in everyone. With this way of thinking the only outcome to hope for is a win.
Just like any other game, the main goal of the game is to win. Senior Captain Jadyn Livings says, “Our goal for the game is obviously to win, but also to challenge ourselves in a way that it makes us better as a team.” Games like this don’t come often so why not make a learning experience out of it. Not everyone gets to say that they have played on ESPN before, let alone as a high schooler.
This is a great opportunity for these girls to showcase their skills nationally. Senior Captain Mikala Young says, “I think this is an incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity. This opportunity was only an option to us because of the hard work every single one of us puts in every day. We are fortunate to have amazing players and coaches that got us to this moment, and I can’t wait to compete on Friday for the top 2 teams in the country.” These girls deserve this opportunity, and they will compete to the best of their abilities.
