After opening a free open gym during the summer, Varsity Girls Volleyball coach Nadia Lan saw an influx of girls showing interest in the MVHS volleyball program. In order to accommodate the 12-player limit for the Varsity and JV teams, the program had to cut almost 24 highly-skilled girls. Since Lan noticed that there were enough players cut to make another team, she created a new exclusively freshman-sophomore volleyball team.
This is the first ever year of MVHS having three Girls Volleyball teams, forcing the girls volleyball program to adapt to sharing practice spaces, game time, and equipment. Freshman and captain Sophia Da Pont feels like the team was necessary to give freshmen a chance to compete.
“There were a lot of sophomores, so not a lot of freshmen had a spot on the team — which is understandable because sophomores just deserve more time,” Da Pont said. “I guess it’s kind of disappointing to be cut from JV, but I’m glad I have the opportunity to be on the freshman team.”
Although the Frosh team may be a new addition at MV, nearby schools like Homestead High School, Wilcox High School and Westmont High School already have similar programs. Having these teams in place at other schools makes organizing games and tournaments much easier since there are plenty of other teams at similar skill levels to compete against.
“It’s not a new thing in the volleyball world,” Lan said. “I just didn’t expect a smaller school like us to be able to form a new team, which is a good problem to have. That means more girls are invested in volleyball, so I’m actually glad to see that.”
The main roadblock in creating the team was finding a coach on such short notice. However, Lan eventually recruited MVHS ‘22 Alum Brendan Tagawa as the Frosh team’s coach. Being an alumni made Tagawa’s transition to his new job as coach of the team much smoother. As a former student, he was very familiar with the school’s environment, coaches and facilities.
“I went here, so it’s easier to talk with the girls and relate to them,” Tagawa said. “MVHS is very college focused and I understand that everyone’s a little bit busy. Volleyball is not the main priority by any means here, but we’re just here to have fun, play volleyball and get better.”
Tagawa’s coaching style reflects his past experiences as a player. Based on what he has learned over the years about how to be successful as a volleyball player, he approaches coaching from a fresh perspective compared to traditional coaching styles. Instead of worrying about how well the girls are performing, Tagawa believes it’s just as important to see how they are interacting with each other as well.
“Everyone has their own learning style, and so if I were to come in and say ‘We’re doing what I want to do,’ it becomes more of a chore to come to practice,” Tagawa said. “It becomes more of this thing where it’s like, ‘I want to play volleyball, so I have to come to practice’ rather than, ‘I want to play volleyball, and I want to come to practice — I want to get better and I want to do better for the team.’”
With the new Frosh team, coaches wouldn’t be surprised to see noticeable improvements in players’ skills over the years. According to Tagawa, having a Frosh team means having another group of highly qualified players that are going to try out for the JV and Varsity teams the following year. Tagawa expects the Varsity and JV teams to become much more competitive, bringing home more state and CCS championships.
While the Frosh team is still required to attend practices and games, they don’t have the same priority as the Varsity or JV teams. Their games have to end earlier to give time for JV, regardless of where they are in the game. However, despite the team facing limitations like suboptimal practice spaces and fewer games, team members are still grateful for the opportunity to play.
“We don’t have as many games as JV, but I think it’s a good opportunity,” Da Pont said. “JV, they have a lot more sophomores, we have mostly freshmen. We have our practices three times a week instead of five times, and we have fewer games.”
Even though they have less practice time and fewer resources than both Varsity and JV, Tagawa and the team still see this season as a great opportunity to improve and develop their skills. As the team begins their first season, their focus isn’t necessarily on winning every game, but on getting more familiar with the program and getting better.
“The goal of the season for these players is to keep improving their skills,” Lan said. “Even though they are not on JV or Varsity and play as many matches, they’re still getting the team spirit together so they’re familiar with the program. Next year, when they have a chance to move up to JV, they will have a better understanding of the program.”
