The Trinity girls’ volleyball team has made it to playoffs this year. Their current record is 8-6 overall and it doesn’t look like the girls are settling down anytime soon. The team is led by Senior captains Maddy Roberts, Aggie Niccolai and Carrie Proudfit as well as coaches Helmkamp and Belleville.
Coach Helmkamp said, “The team has grown tremendously. The girls truly love being together on and off the court, which makes for a great team atmosphere. The seniors have done a wonderful job of welcoming in our 10 freshmen and making them part of the team. The level of play has grown so much since mid-August, in which every player has improved their play.”
The team has 23 girls and there are five seniors on the team: Natalie Hartman, Riley Corrins, Roberts, Niccolai and Proudfit. Their biggest strength is their leadership, court communication and positive atmosphere. The coaches are continuously advising the girls to keep being competitive and aggressive, even when the games get tight. They tell the girls to trust in each other and the skills that they bring to the team.
With the players’ competitive nature and strong abilities they have earned themselves third place in their section this year.
The girls practice about three times per week to prepare for upcoming matches such as their biggest competitors: Oakland Catholic. Their practices consist of warm-ups, flex stretches, serve receive, hitting lines, sometimes scrimmaging, along with drills that focus on the teams’ weaker spots.
As previously mentioned, the girls love being together and when asked what she loved most about volleyball, Morgan Baker, a junior on the team said, “I love the people involved with volleyball. A competitive, fun, connected team keeps us all excited for more, even after long practices and late game nights.”
One thing that all the girls agree on is their love for the unpredictability of the game. The girls have learned that the game they play is one of mistakes, but that making one mistake can’t bring the team or a player down because the next ball is seconds away.
A new addition to the team this year is Coach Rizor, the strength and conditioning coach at Trinity. The girls began working with Rizor in May and that continued on through the summer and now the school year. Coaches Belleville and Helmkamp have been seeing improvements in jumping ability, hitting, blocking and durability. The girls practice with Rizor once a week to keep the edge on other teams. More information on Coach Rizor can be found by reading this article here.
