The Knightly News

This year the girls’ volleyball team at North is better than it’s been in eight years.  They already have won more games this year at midseason than the total number of games they won last year.  Their current record of 10-5 is impressive, hopefully impressive enough to carry them to states, which they haven’t made in two years.  “Of course, the end goal is to always make it to states.  We want to be able to work our way up to our end goal by taking it one game at a time,” sophomore Apoorva Balaji said.

Seniors Ylana Lopez, a captain, and Anushka Saddi said they have high hopes for the season, and plan to carry their teams far in States.  “We have two girls on track to break school records and we hope to leave a mark on the school through the rest of our games and hopefully in state matches,” Saddi said.

Joe Schweitzer is once again the head varsity coach, and he attributes the team’s success to honesty and mental resilience. “We have a big team, 16 girls.  What we have is parody. Players know that they are competing for their job every practice, every match.  I hope this constant competition will give us the edge,”  Schweitzer said.

Another aspect of their success comes from their tight-knit relationship with one another.  “We are like a family.  We want to play well for each other.  We talk to and spend more time with each other than we do with our real families,” Lopez said.  Most of the girls on the team have been playing with each other since freshmen year.  The team is comprised of seven seniors, eight juniors, and one sophomore.

Thus far, the Knights are right on track to take over states despite their difficult division.  “We are looking to find that place where we believe, down deep in our hearts, that we will win every match,” Coach Joe said.  His mentality is simple: “Give what you have today, go to sleep, then do it again the next day.”