Photo Credit: Landon Luke

By Gus Conte

Staff Writer

“So far they are finally coming together as a team and this is the best team that Hammond has had in a long time.”  said Coach Taylor. Volleyball had a few kinks to work out and then had a midseason surge with back to back wins against Oakland Mills and Wilde Lake. Three sophomore players who got moved up in the beginning of the school year have been leaving a large impact on the team. Khloe Winston says, “I’ve been more vocal and saying how I feel and what’s on my mind trying to communicate more with my teammates and coaches” and she’s been striving during the season. Having been a two year varsity player, Mang Sing has had confidence with the team saying, “We didn’t have a good program next year but this year is better. We are finding mistakes easier and fixing them in game without repeating them twice”. Maddie Fauteux has also just recently been moved up and is already starting to make a name for herself, “we have greatly improved and are getting better at practice.” The future of volleyball is looking great with these three sophomores on the come up.  

“I’ve been encouraging and fixing small errors and each player, after every game the coaches have been complimenting me on how I’ve made these girls better.” Taylor says. The back to back wins just show how tough this team is fighting to become better. Winston speaks on mentally and speaks on how she is expressing her feelings to her teammates and coaches so they can take her thoughts into consideration. “ I’ve been more vocal and saying how I feel and what’s on my mind trying to communicate more with my teammates and coaches”. Says Winston. This season has been all about improvement and significant growth has been seen throughout it. 

The players and coach Taylor all have the same feeling about the team this season, they knew it was going to come with challenges but they knew they had to persevere and outwork the rest of the county. Sing says, “I feel good, I think we’re getting better each day and we’re all working equally as hard.” With everyone on the same page, Coach Taylor and her team see the improvement are working hard in the gym everyday to bring championships to Hammond High School.