The volleyball team is preparing to play Coppell on Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Coppell High school.

After a rough start to the season, the team is hoping to get back into the swing of doing well. Senior captain Hannah Redrow suffered a sprained ankle injury before the first game, but, now healthy, she said the three-set win against Plano West on Sept. 16 helped the team refocus. 

“After our last game on Friday, we had a talk in the team room,” Redrow said. ”We just really came together and decided that we wanted more [for the] first season. So ever since then, there’s been like a spark in us, and we’ve been doing a lot better.”

The team had a tough start to the season; its current record is 9-21 and 1-3 in district.

“[The start of the season] has been a roller coaster,” head coach Karin Keeney said. “Not one of our smoothest starts, [but] it’s not for lack of effort or trying. [The team is very] young this year. 

There’s a lot more to [the younger players] learning to play with older kids since we’re very sophomore-loaded.”

Since the team has started the season with a lot of new players, the team has bonded closer together. From morning practices to practices before a game, the older players have put in more effort to properly incorporate their new players.

“I think we’re slowly getting more energetic and comfortable with each other,” senior defensive specialist and Libero Kaylin Ginsburg said. “We’re communicating more.”

The players work on techniques and plays they have struggled with, as well as analyze  videos of the other team’s plays, to prepare to counter. They also practice with drills that resemble game-like situations. The team is working to become more competitive and achieve its goal of getting into the playoffs.

“We’ve completely changed our mindset going into practice, and just [been] more competitive and want [to win] more,” Redrow said. “We were going through the motions a couple of weeks ago, but now it’s more [about] trying to compete instead of just trying to survive.”

As the players work toward the game, Keeney said they continue to show dedication, and work hard despite the season’s slow start and player injuries.

“I’m really proud of the kids’ work ethic and dedication, even with my younger squads,” Keeney said. “My coaches worked their tails off for this program, and everything that goes into a season like this [is] a lot of work. There’s a lot of great people around [the program] and [they] make the biggest difference. Win, lose or draw, it’s an amazing place to be.”

*(Editors’ Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the start time and place of the game, this version has been corrected to show the game was at Coppell High school at 6:30 p.m.)