What do you think of when the word “sports” is said? Most people think about athleticism, hard work, or your dad screaming at the television every Sunday from September to February. But, what’s often overlooked are the friendships, passion, and traditions that come from them.

 I don’t talk about volleyball enough so I figured why not write a whole article about it! Since we’ve had the same head coach for the past eon, the program has had years upon years to develop its ways. Even though every girl who’s stepped onto the court on a Tuesday or Thursday night for the past 36 years has done preseason “bootcamp” (newly nicknamed as Crunch Time), made senior posters in somebody’s garage, or sang the alma mater on the way back home from a game, each player has had their own individual experience. Let’s (dolphin) dive into some of the current players’ experiences. 

Senior Brynne Smith has been playing volleyball since she was in 7th grade. 

“I started playing volleyball because I thought it would be fun,” said Smith “Coach Geist also encouraged me to play because I was tall, so that added some interest. That wasn’t why I joined though, I already planned on joining.” 

Since Smith has been playing since middle school, she’s experienced all of our traditions. 

“I really like the spaghetti dinner,” said Smith. “I think it’s so cute that we all get together and have a homemade meal.”

Since the spaghetti dinner will be a common theme in this article, I’ll explain it a bit. Every year after we finish our two weeks of conditioning, we get together at someone’s house or the clubhouse at the plantation and have a home cooked meal of spaghetti, alfredo, garlic bread or Texas Roadhouse Rolls, salad and desserts. Each class has their own table to sit with each other at. After we eat we go outside, take pictures, and play a game the seniors make where they give all the underclassmen a nickname that correlates with their appearance or an inside joke. All the nicknames are written on volleyball cut-outs, and once you guess your name you get to keep it and read a letter from a senior on the back. 

Enough about spaghetti though! Back to the players. Junior Carissa Tekely has some things to say. Tekely has been playing volleyball since 8th grade, since the current juniors 7th grade season was canceled due to covid. 

Tekely began playing because she “wanted to do another sport other than softball to strengthen other muscles.”

Her favorite tradition also happens to be the spaghetti dinner. 

“It’s like volleyball’s only thing, it’s something that only we do,” said Tekely. “I think it’s really cute that we all dress up; it’s good bonding.” 

If she could give her younger self any advice, it would be “to stick with the sport because you get surrounded by some of the most positive energy. It’s a girly place for the girls and I think it’s just a really good environment.”

Junior Morgan Werner has been playing volleyball for “a solid four years” because of seeing her older sister play when she was younger. 

Her favorite tradition also happens to be the spaghetti dinner. 

“It’s when we all get together and have dinner and talk about random stuff and- OH hold on my work is calling me right now I gotta take this.”

After a quick call with Kiki and Lolos, Werner had returned to finish her interview.

Her favorite volleyball memory was meeting Victor at our Cal U camp over the summer. I personally think I could name a few better things that have happened in the past 4 years, but to each their own. 

Werner’s advice is to keep your head up. She says it’s a really hard sport and is mentally draining.

 “Just keep going hard in practice every day and showing up,” said Werner. 

Lastly, Junior Kenzie Kurtz has been playing volleyball for 4 years.

Kurtz started playing volleyball because “my mom always talked about it. She thought she was the best.”

Her favorite tradition is also the spaghetti dinner. How original. 

Kurtz’s favorite memory is the setter duo from her freshman year, which was me and her.

And after lots of hesitation, Kurtz’ advice to her younger self would be “don’t let stuff get to you, like, yeah.” 

Very inspirational.

When it comes to volleyball at Knoch, it’s more than just a sport. It’s friendships, memories and fun (and spaghetti.) I hope everyone on a team cherishes the time they spend together.