Fresh nets and fresh faces as the Owatonna Girls Volleyball team goes into another season at the new Owatonna High School. This year, eight girls were brought up to the varsity team to fill the shoes of last season’s seniors. Subsequently, the team is now mostly made up of sophomores and juniors. The team may be young, but their passion and grit are timeless. Unfortunately, the Huskies couldn’t secure their first home game on Aug. 29. They fell in a four-set match, losing three sets with scores of 17-25, 20-25, 25-23 and 18-25.
The new gym allowed more fans to show up for the girls than ever before. There were 467 people scanned in, not including hard passes, leaving an estimated total appearance of 500-600 people on Tuesday night. The Huskies do feel a big difference not being in the old gym, but can say they prefer the fresh floors and high ceilings. The student section also seemed to enjoy having an air-conditioned place to cheer on the team while also having appetizing concessions.
As of now the girls and coaches agree to continue to work towards some goals, notably improving blocking, staying low and enhancing on-court communication. Head coach Rachel Malo said, “You so badly want to go out there and do it for them and be that hype person, but we look to the seniors and upperclassmen to check in and say, hey guys we are not out of this.’” Coach Malo recognizes that the younger girls aren’t used to the fast-paced games that come with varsity, but her nerves are put at ease knowing the girls are ready to learn and ready to put their work into action.
Senior captains Samantha Bogen and Mehsa Kraus showed the importance of leading by example and gave reassurance to the team during the first game of the season. Captain Kraus said, “Don’t underestimate us, being a young team doesn’t mean anything. We can make plays, we can make the other team make errors for us, don’t count us out.” Getting the first game out of the way the Huskies prepare for the rest of the season.
The next home game for the girls will be Friday, Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. against Lakeville South.
