A-C-E ACE UP!!
Congratulations to our girls volleyball team led by 6 seniors: Kaycee, Izzy, Xiadany, Marcy’Anna, Karyme, and Talia, who competed in the toughest conference in the city this past season. Their great bonds kept them together through the ups and downs of the season.
Congratulations to our girls volleyball team led by 6 seniors: Kaycee, Izzy, Xiadany, Marcy’Anna, Karyme, and Talia, who competed in the toughest conference in the city this past season. Their great bonds kept them together through the ups and downs of the season.
Q: What about volleyball makes you the most excited?
Xiadany: Coming to practices knowing that everyone has a great bond with each other. Knowing that we will always be joking around together, having a great laugh, or making Tik Toks. Overall, making fun of each other like, oh you do this. Just goofing around with each other every time we come to volleyball. We’re excited to see each other and have those great laughs.
Q: What makes someone a good volleyball player?
Agustina: Being able to communicate with your teammates, even when you don’t feel well. Being able to be flexible and staying calm in tough situations because if you can’t stay calm, you stress out your teammates and stress out the blocker. Also, just being able to help and cheer everyone up.
Q: What makes Brooks Volleyball different from volleyball in other places?
Talia: I would definitely say just the team overall. Like, there were so many times in the season where we’ve had issues that we really couldn’t control. Whether it was jerseys or buses for games or really just anything. But for us to be able to come together and persevere really shows that we are a team: united. Also, how we care about our sport. Like, we care about our teammates and each other. We want to show each other that we work as a team and set an example.
Kaycee: Our resilience for sure! I feel like we don’t let anything bring us down, even when we’re losing and the ability for us to really just encourage each other and support each other like sisters is amazing. The most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my entire life. I love these women very much, dearly, they are very much in my heart. I feel like when we all get together, it’s very good energy. Even when our energy is off, it’s always that one person or one-two people that always get us out of that abyss. Like, when we’re in our heads at a game, it always helps us come back to reality and have a good time.
Q: As you leave Brooks, what are you looking forward to?
- Isabella: I would say I love my girls so much. I’ve been playing with most of them since I was little, but I would say meeting new people and forming new bonds. Like the bonds I have with the girls here. So just being in a new environment.
Q: In what ways have you as a team shown sisterhood?
Marcy’Anna: I want to say the biggest thing is we’re together outside of volleyball. We’re not only friends on the court or on the bus on the way to the game. We hang out after school and outside of school. We’re always there for each other. It’s more than just volleyball. We're friends and we love each other. We care about each other. We’re there to uplift each other when things go down. We always just have each other’s back. You know, I see a lot of these girls as sisters. I really love them.
Q: What was your favorite moment of this season?
Karyme: Our first game was an away game against Von Steuben. Even though we lost the game, on the way back, we were all just sitting on the bus talking about how we felt leading up to the game, both during and after the game. It really showed how much of a team we are regardless of our performance.
Nevaeh: After we won our home game against Kennedy, when we were all in our circle talking about whose house it was. I think it was just a lot of energy, and I was here for it honestly.
Q: What has leading the Brooks volleyball team taught you this season?
Marcy’Anna: It’s taught me that no matter how I’m feeling, because their were a lot of times that I have gotten in my head even though I’m a leader, everybody else on the team is there to lead with us, and a lot of the team has been there for me, even when I was to down to communicate on and off the court. And it’s taught me that you might have the title of being the leader, but there are gonna be other people there to help you lead. You’re not alone. I really love feeling like that.
Karyme: Being a captain has taught me that no matter how you feel or where you are, the team is always gonna be there for you, just how you’re supposed to be there for the team. What always happens when you have the leader title is that you feel some type of pressure because you’re supposed to be leading the team, but I don’t feel like that’s what it is for the team. I’m there to represent them. There’s nothing of me that’s above anyone on this team. We all lead each other and help each other. We’re all captains with something in the team.
Q: What’s something you’ve learned in volleyball that you can apply to real life?
Talia- I’ve learned patience, honestly. I’ve been playing volleyball since like 5th grade, and there are so many things I felt I wasn’t doing quick enough or that I wasn’t getting quickly enough. I felt that my development was stalled the whole time, but I learned that in volleyball and even in school, some stuff just takes time. And that you have to be patient and work for it and try your best while being consistent and persistent with it. Then you’ll get it. The same thing goes with playing the game: waiting on the ball, not really running towards it but letting it come to you and just moving freely. It's just all about patience.
Kaycee: To add on to what Talia said: it also teaches you how to react to certain situations. Like say if you become aggressive in a game because someone starts targeting you, and you keep shanking the ball. You have to learn how to take a step back and refocus. You have to reset your whole focus at that moment. You can’t let that person get to you. You have to learn how to react in certain situations because in life, you’re not gonna always get what you want, and not everything will go your way, so you have to learn how to react to it, so you can make a better decision in that moment.
Xiadany: Coming to practices knowing that everyone has a great bond with each other. Knowing that we will always be joking around together, having a great laugh, or making Tik Toks. Overall, making fun of each other like, oh you do this. Just goofing around with each other every time we come to volleyball. We’re excited to see each other and have those great laughs.
Q: What makes someone a good volleyball player?
Agustina: Being able to communicate with your teammates, even when you don’t feel well. Being able to be flexible and staying calm in tough situations because if you can’t stay calm, you stress out your teammates and stress out the blocker. Also, just being able to help and cheer everyone up.
Q: What makes Brooks Volleyball different from volleyball in other places?
Talia: I would definitely say just the team overall. Like, there were so many times in the season where we’ve had issues that we really couldn’t control. Whether it was jerseys or buses for games or really just anything. But for us to be able to come together and persevere really shows that we are a team: united. Also, how we care about our sport. Like, we care about our teammates and each other. We want to show each other that we work as a team and set an example.
Kaycee: Our resilience for sure! I feel like we don’t let anything bring us down, even when we’re losing and the ability for us to really just encourage each other and support each other like sisters is amazing. The most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my entire life. I love these women very much, dearly, they are very much in my heart. I feel like when we all get together, it’s very good energy. Even when our energy is off, it’s always that one person or one-two people that always get us out of that abyss. Like, when we’re in our heads at a game, it always helps us come back to reality and have a good time.
Q: As you leave Brooks, what are you looking forward to?
- Isabella: I would say I love my girls so much. I’ve been playing with most of them since I was little, but I would say meeting new people and forming new bonds. Like the bonds I have with the girls here. So just being in a new environment.
Q: In what ways have you as a team shown sisterhood?
Marcy’Anna: I want to say the biggest thing is we’re together outside of volleyball. We’re not only friends on the court or on the bus on the way to the game. We hang out after school and outside of school. We’re always there for each other. It’s more than just volleyball. We're friends and we love each other. We care about each other. We’re there to uplift each other when things go down. We always just have each other’s back. You know, I see a lot of these girls as sisters. I really love them.
Q: What was your favorite moment of this season?
Karyme: Our first game was an away game against Von Steuben. Even though we lost the game, on the way back, we were all just sitting on the bus talking about how we felt leading up to the game, both during and after the game. It really showed how much of a team we are regardless of our performance.
Nevaeh: After we won our home game against Kennedy, when we were all in our circle talking about whose house it was. I think it was just a lot of energy, and I was here for it honestly.
Q: What has leading the Brooks volleyball team taught you this season?
Marcy’Anna: It’s taught me that no matter how I’m feeling, because their were a lot of times that I have gotten in my head even though I’m a leader, everybody else on the team is there to lead with us, and a lot of the team has been there for me, even when I was to down to communicate on and off the court. And it’s taught me that you might have the title of being the leader, but there are gonna be other people there to help you lead. You’re not alone. I really love feeling like that.
Karyme: Being a captain has taught me that no matter how you feel or where you are, the team is always gonna be there for you, just how you’re supposed to be there for the team. What always happens when you have the leader title is that you feel some type of pressure because you’re supposed to be leading the team, but I don’t feel like that’s what it is for the team. I’m there to represent them. There’s nothing of me that’s above anyone on this team. We all lead each other and help each other. We’re all captains with something in the team.
Q: What’s something you’ve learned in volleyball that you can apply to real life?
Talia- I’ve learned patience, honestly. I’ve been playing volleyball since like 5th grade, and there are so many things I felt I wasn’t doing quick enough or that I wasn’t getting quickly enough. I felt that my development was stalled the whole time, but I learned that in volleyball and even in school, some stuff just takes time. And that you have to be patient and work for it and try your best while being consistent and persistent with it. Then you’ll get it. The same thing goes with playing the game: waiting on the ball, not really running towards it but letting it come to you and just moving freely. It's just all about patience.
Kaycee: To add on to what Talia said: it also teaches you how to react to certain situations. Like say if you become aggressive in a game because someone starts targeting you, and you keep shanking the ball. You have to learn how to take a step back and refocus. You have to reset your whole focus at that moment. You can’t let that person get to you. You have to learn how to react in certain situations because in life, you’re not gonna always get what you want, and not everything will go your way, so you have to learn how to react to it, so you can make a better decision in that moment.
