With a record of 31-5, New Trier girls volleyball won regionals and is set to continue on to sectionals.
The Trevians will be playing Glenbrook North at sectionals on Tuesday Nov. 3. at Maine South. If they win, the team will play at super-sectionals located at York High School. The winner of the match will play at the state championship at Illinois State University.
New Trier defeated Rolling Meadows at regionals by a score of 25-16 on Oct. 27. The game was at Conant High School.
The team celebrated their win by eating ice cream and prepping for their next game.
“The energy on the court is so high,” senior Kenzie Walker said. “We are all really close, we’re like a really big family that supports each other no matter what.”
To prepare for their opponent, players watch game videos. They later practice as if the other team is playing them. “We work on staying aggressive and not focusing on mistakes,” senior Meghan Riordan said.
“Teamwork is critical to our success,” senior captain Erin Denham said. The team has learned to play together throughout their months of practicing.
“The season has been great because we are all really close friends on and off the court,” Walker said. “The fact that we are mostly returning seniors adds to the chemistry of the team. We’ve played with each other for so long that we know what to do on the court, which means there are very little communication errors.”
The team is ranked first in its section, although senior Talia Harrington said that the team has worked hard to win. “Beating Loyola was definitely a high point for us,” Harrington said. “They are our rival and we want to keep our pride.”
The team has greatly improved from the previous year, with 13 returning players and 11 seniors to lead the team to victory. “Next year there will be five returning players,” Harrington said.
To keep the team close, the entire volleyball team is split into families. One player from freshman A, freshman B, JV, and varsity make up the family. One member from a family brings a gift for each person to every home game. Gifts range from food to nail polish.
The team also holds all program practices that allow the members to get to know one another.
“You will typically meet with your families to learn more about their school day. After, every player will split into practice groups based on their position,” senior Alex Cook said.
Some senior players will continue to play in college. Senior Isabelle Tashima is committed to Harvard University while Denham is committed to play at Williams College. “It is an amazing school and they have an extremely close-knit team,” Denham said.
All players hope to succeed at state. “We’ve finally come together and have been playing more as a team than ever before and we are succeeding because of it,” Cook said.