Photo Credit: Mark Legall ~ @shutterspeedmark

By: Yax Rivera Maldonado

Staff Writer

“I believe hard work and dedication towards building a strong and developed team will bring their playing to a new playing level,” said Coach Tayler Gibbons, Varsity Head Coach. The team’s most notable highlight wins from last season were beating Oakland Mills and Wilde Lake. The Hammond Volleyball team has been working hard during the offseason to be able to ace this year’s season.

Coach Gibbons had some comments on the new approach to winning games this season: “Hammond Volleyball has earned a new program motto this year: ‘progress, not perfection’. When I asked the team what this meant to them and the program, they all collectively said the same thing. We cannot strive to be perfect because nobody is perfect; we can only progress as a team and keep growing. In order for us to win games, these girls have to change their mindset of ‘having to be perfect’ to ‘there’s always room to grow.’ When they choose to grow as a team, they can then finish games with consistent energy and earn every point.”

This season, the team has brought on freshmen that will be able to lead them for the years coming. “The underclassmen bring a new competitive drive to our team. It’s always good seeing what talent comes into Hammond and watching what they bring to the table,” commented Coach Gibbons.

The team also has three senior captains: Adanya Land, Valentina Velasquez, and Allison Orris, who are ready to lead the team to victory and success. Adanya Land, who is stepping into her 3rd season in varsity and 2nd season as captain has been developing a new approach to being an even better leader on the court. “Last season taught me a lot about myself as a leader. This year, I’m going to be more focused on being supportive and uplifting for my teammates, especially after tough games. I’ve been working on being positive and helping my team thrive in every situation, good or bad, so that we keep growing together.” 

She was also able to give some comments about the energy and commitment she expects for the year. “Looking at the last scrimmage, I think that our team carried really good energy throughout the game, which is different from last year. And I think all of us are very committed to the team this year in terms of really wanting to win and just like, showing out their practice, giving it their all, and really just trying to support and uplift each other.” 

Valentina Velasquez is going into her 2nd year of varsity and 1st as captain. Stepping into her first year as captain she has had some challenges that she is trying to overcome, “I think right now I’m just really focused on trying to still be supportive and making sure everyone feels heard within the team and feeling like they can improve and not feel judged.” Also, being a setter, she has been able to put in more work with the new volunteer coach, Coach Phil. “I think that he’s [Coach Phil] been really helpful in trying to push not just me, but also Skye and freshmen on varsity. It’s really helpful for him being a setter personally because he actually plays volleyball.”

Allison Orris is stepping into her 2nd year of varsity and 2nd year as captain. She provided some comments about one of the biggest things that the squad has been working on from last season which was communication. “I think that we’re a lot more open with each other on what needs to be fixed during games because last year we would just shut down and we wouldn’t talk it out. But this year we talk it out and we keep the energy up, which is better for the game overall in our performance on the court.”