With strong chemistry, team building and leadership, the Wakefield women’s volleyball team brings an exciting start to the school year with a 13-4 record.

The season opened up with a disappointing 3-1 loss. However, the girls responded with an eight-game win streak, five of those being sweeps. Head Coach Kyle Bayer believes that the loss was just what the girls needed to start the season off right. 

“When you play a competitive team, it raises standards and raises the bar of what you think you could accomplish,” Bayer said. 

With high standards, the team has come up with strategies to deal with adversity. Senior co-captain Mollie Shoaf knows how to lead the team through any challenges they may face. 

“We always say ‘reset,’ ” Shoaf said. “If we’re having a bad game and being super frantic, we bring it to the middle and we take that time to reset and just fight out of it.”

The three captains are crucial in building up the team when they are faced with tough competition. Senior co-captain Ariah Davis understands that developing a close bond between the captains contributes to lifting the team’s morale. 

“I appreciate the bond that the other captains and I have,” Davis said. “I also enjoy being able to talk to each individual member, not as an authority figure but to help them out. They can come to me if they need anything, and it’s nice to be that person.”

The family-like atmosphere cultivated throughout the season has established a positive team environment, which has undoubtedly helped the team in their success.

“We’re all really good friends off the court, and so we feed off of each other’s energy,” Shoaf said. 

When these players go into their games, they try not to get too worried about future match-ups. A key strategy of this team is to take each match or set one step at a time. 

“We’re going to focus on the task at hand, take advantage of opportunities to get better, and when the moment’s there, we’re going to seize it,” Bayer said.

Additionally, the energy brought from the Wackos plays a major role in uplifting the team. Junior Kayli Barlett, a middle-back for the team, appreciates the support from her peers. 

“We love having the student section there,” Bartlett said. “It’s really hard to bring energy sometimes, but when they’re there it really picks it up.”

Even with that tremendous support, the volleyball team would not be where they are today without the strong players on the team. 

“We’re just good,” Davis said. “We have so much raw talent, we have so many good hitters that are really smart and know where to put the ball, [and] defense is amazing [too].”

With the backing of the students going into the conference championships, the Lady Wolverines hope to end their season right. In victory or defeat, as long as they can walk away from this season knowing that they went above and beyond to represent the school, they’ll know it was a successful season. 

“Our goal is to finish top two in the conference,” Bayer said. “Whether we finish top two or finish somewhere else, as long as we worked hard and gave it our best, that’s all I could really ask for.”