Girls volleyball leaves legacy for younger athletes

   The Sheridan Lady Broncs volleyball team started the season with their motto “play as one” and have kept that statement in mind throughout the season. The team’s goal is a state championship, but the Lady Broncs understand they cannot achieve this without playing as a unified date. “Collective effort from everyone is the key,” said head coach Eric Frey.

   On September 27 and 28, the Lady Broncs played in the Casper Invite tournament. The tournament showed the team where they could improve and gave them a feel for the competition they can expect later in the season. “We’re trying to improve every week,” said senior Katie Ligocki. Having a tournament this early has helped the team put a focus on aspects of the game that will help them in the upcoming regionals competition. “We are working on passing so that we may run our offense,” said Frey. Early tournaments like this help the team to better know and understand their future competition later.

   The team has made consistent strides early in the season, and this has resulted in them battling in many close games. While the athletes make individual improvements, they are helping to push the team in a better direction. Once the team got to know each other, they were able to come together well and pursue their goal of winning. “We would do anything for each other,” said junior Aniston Beard. With dependable team chemistry and the ability to play competitively, the team is looking at a solid season. “We’ve showed promise in past weekends,” said Ligocki.

   The team has multiple returning seniors with a large majority of them sharing experience that has helped push the team forward. “I think the seniors are taking the season like champs,” said Beard. The seniors have taken on their leadership role and used it to help all members of the team. They work together to better fellow seniors and underclassmen. The seniors understand that the team culture they create this year will continue to affect future classes. With this in mind, the seniors are working to create a lasting legacy of leadership on and off the court. 

   While the seniors lead the team, the underclassmen are working to give the varsity squad a competitive look in practice. The junior varsity and sophomore players aim to improve themselves while also playing the varsity which, in turn, helps the varsity squad work on skills that will help them play better. When not scouting for the varsity squad, the underclassmen do their best to support the varsity team during games. “JV and sophomore team do a good job of rooting for the varsity,” said Ligocki. The competitive play the younger teams provide helps the varsity squad and can later help prepare the younger players for their own later seasons. 

   With strong leadership, a hard working younger class, and a highly competitive edge, the Lady Broncs volleyball team have come together to battle under their motto and have a progressive season. The Lady Broncs Volleyball team finished the season 1-5 in conference play.