After over a year of COVID cancellations, fans are welcomed back to watch our Monarch athletes in action. And this means the Women’s Volleyball Team—currently 29-7 overall and first in the WCAL—is ready to claim more titles. It seems these young women are always winning something, and you have to wonder how they do it year after year. 

Senior Libero Klaudia Barbarosa says it’s the pregame traditions that contribute to their success. She comments that the team is huge on music. Before every home game, Klaudia says, “We always blast “Listen,” by Beyoncé, and sing it at the top of our lungs as well as bang on the lockers to the beat of it.” She brings the speaker, and junior Demi Harris is on aux. Preparing mentally for their games is also key for the team. Klaudia explains how each person on their team voices a word to everyone that describes who they want to be on the court for that game, and that helps them mentally prepare or “manifest” the best versions of themselves.

Senior Maddy Hanahan also comments that their new leader, Head Coach Jon Wallace, “emphasizes the mental aspect of the game.” She explains, “A quote we audibly say on the court is ‘next play speed.’ We use this to remind ourselves that what happened in the play before is over with, and does not need to carry into the next play.” This positive mindset helps them to move on quickly from mistakes. Maddy also emphasizes pregame rituals, saying, “One of my favorite pregame rituals is handing out bows. Amy Veargason chooses which color we are going to wear and hands them out to every girl on the team.” Maddy feels, “it really unites us as a team, and reminds us of our common goals, which were established at the beginning of the season.” They also each have bag tags with their goals written on them, as Maddy explains, to remind them of the collective mindset they share. 

The Monarchs have just recently taken the WCAL title with a win in 3 sets over Valley Chirstian and have been placed as the first seed going into the CCS playoffs.*

So next time you come to see these Monarchs in action, take note of their bows or listen for “next play speed,” and get a feel for the connection and community this team has.

* this sentence was added after the original publication