Serving up success: Bethel’s record volleyball season

Photo credit: Athletic Department

Most of the players spent their childhoods playing volleyball, which pushed them to develop a vigorous relationship with the sport. Jaelyn Warren said, “I’ve been playing volleyball since I was nine,… I only started because my dad wanted me to play a sport so bad he put me through like every single sport in the world.” Like Jaelyn, several grew to love the support, continuing because of the feelings of success and belonging playing brings them. 

At the start of the season, the team performed well, remaining undefeated until their 6th match, against Woodside. Their first two losses came back-to-back, so the players had to regroup. According to Coach Jeremy,  the losses combined with physical injuries proved discouraging. One player, Stephanie Adejayan, shared the Coach’s assessment. She indicated the loss of their libero for several games hurt morale, observing “with [her] there, we were more at ease because she is just that good. She is that girl.” 

What brought the players through the difficult moments was each other. Most have been teammates for a few seasons, even giving up time over the summer to keep their competitive edge. Samya Pace says her motivation to play volleyball comes from, “seeing…everybody love the game more and more. It makes us all want to play more.” With their excitement for the game, they motivate each other. 

The more they worked as a team and expressed their energy, the better their results. Alexis Lovett observed, “Our funnest games are when…we can just have fun and like love the game.” Lovett added, “When we have [these] games…we really like learn each other, we just have fun.” Nevaeh Howard attributed their success to how their energy built over the season, sharing, “The process of where you started off to where you are now definitely keeps you wanting to be better.”

Towards the end of the season, the team suffered one final loss against Kecoughtan, which they had already defeated. Adejayan concluded this match “kind of went downwards because we kind of came in with the expectation [that] we were going to win.” She clarified that that is what happens “when you expect you’re going to win, and you don’t actually play and fight for it like you [normally] would.”

The team clearly did not let this one loss stall their momentum. In fact, in the next two games, they beat Woodside and Menchville, who had defeated them much earlier in the season. For the players, the victory against Menchville proved especially meaningful. Until that game, Menchville had been undefeated for three years and had only dropped 3 sets this season. On the way to the game, the teammates hyped each other up, and when they emerged victorious they “all started crying on court…people tackled each other.” With Menchville’s defeat, the players proved to themselves (and any remaining doubters) that they have what it takes to lead the division. When asked what they wanted the Bethel community to know, they shared they hope the community will cheer them on more during the games themselves. 

Well, Bruins you certainly have something to cheer for this week as the team takes on the postseason regional tournament. Since only one of the players this year is a senior, most of the team will be back next season to build on the reputation they have cemented with their teamwork and unflagging energy.