The Gilroy High volleyball team isn’t worried about its record this season—wins and losses will take care of themselves. Instead, the Mustangs are hoping to bond with one another and have fun doing it.
“I would like everyone to come together and feel connected, so that way we have energy as a team for the games to be loud and exciting,” junior Desiree Cundiff said. “That way we don’t have a really dead game—that’s kind of how it was last season.”
Gilroy struggled last year, finishing with a 5-13 overall record and 3-9 in the Monterey Bay League Pacific Division. Part of the Mustangs’ troubles was due to sharing their coach, Elaine Price, with the JV squad as she was tasked with coaching both. This year, however, Price will get to focus more of her energy on the varsity team as boys coach Paolo Palao joins her staff as an assistant and 2014 grad Bailie Carpenter takes over JV.
The Mustangs only have four returning players—Gabby Martinez, Sarah Weiby, Alexis Conlon and Jenna Clonts—while the rest of the team is new to the varsity level. The key now, Price said, is working on honing the skills of the team.
“Skill development is huge right now. That’s been our focus and (working on) technical skills,” Price said. “This week we’re starting to move into a little more tactical team systems: defense, offense systems; they’re working hard.”
In addition to developing their skills, the Mustangs are also working on bonding with each other. The slew of new faces could mean growing pains on the court, but Martinez said team building is Gilroy’s No. 1 priority.
“It’s always fun when everyone is having fun; we don’t like to have anyone left out,” the senior said. “We just want to strive to become better players during practices and we also want to win games.”
But winning games can’t happen without communication, something the Mustangs lacked last season. If practice is any indication of what game day will be like, Conlon believes her team will be just fine.
“I think we will be better at communicating because we’re a really loud team compared to last year,” she said. “I know we have a lot more energetic players that are ready to play; I think that will help us a lot.”
Bonding, however, doesn’t mean goofing around. Senior Concetta Fredricks said the Mustangs still need to keep their eyes on the prize while learning to play with one another.
“I think the thing that will help us is if during practice we don’t mess around and actually get our drills right,” she said. “We need to help other people if they’re struggling and in games talk a lot and use those skills for the games.”
In addition to communication and skill development, Price said she wants the Mustangs to be a strong serving team—another area they had trouble with last season. She said once the team can master serving, everything else will fall into place.
“We just have to put our systems together and I’m getting excited to see what we’re going to come up with and who’s going to be in those spots. The other thing about the varsity level is execution and who’s going to executing consistently,” Price said noting that no one has guaranteed their spot on the court just yet—every spot needs to be earned. “We have not established libero or inside, outside hitters. We’ve made it very clear that we’re trying everybody everywhere because we need to see everybody everywhere.”
Gilroy kicks off its season on the road at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at Soledad and will host Pioneer at the same time on Sept. 11. The Mustangs are most excited about their game at crosstown rival Christopher—6:30 p.m. Sept. 18—but regardless of the score, Price said she just wants her team to give 100 percent in each contest.
“For the league, I want us to be competitive,” she said. “The wins and losses will take care of themselves, but our goal is to be competitive and to put our best out there.”
