“! e pace of the game keeps it going; it’s like a reaction game where you have to be really fast and it’s really fun,” Redwine said. Leonard plays on the same level as upper-classmen and won’t let them down. “Playing on varsity is intense,” she said, “be-cause you have to stay up and do your job. ! e team is counting on you.” Whereas Perkins describes the sport as un-predictable. “! e same thing never happens twice. It’s al-ways subject to change,” she said, “so you have to be ready for everything.” ! is year’s varsity volleyball team includes leadership, di" erent ages, bonding and success. “It’s an honor to be on the team,” senior Hal-ey Dale said, “because it is such a good pro-gram and good group of girls. Every one on the team has worked very hard to earn that spot.” Varsity coach Claire Rose develops goals which include creating a successful program people enjoy watching. “I want it to be a family more than a team,” Rose said. Winning 36 games so far, there are # ve freshmen on varsity this year. “It’s pretty new to me competing on the var-sity level,” freshman Annie Parks said. “But it’s exciting because there is so much to do and af-ter every point during the game you can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next.” Practicing every morning at 5:30, Dale de-scribes volleyball as her life. “It literally consumes my life, in a good way,” she said. “All I do is eat, sleep and play

volleyball.” Coaching varsity for # ve years, Rose enjoys watching the game. “! is year, the team’s success is from reach-ing their goals they made on day one,” Rose said. “! ey work hard to achieve them and they don’t settle- that’s the biggest thing.”

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36 5 5’11”Career wins by

Coach Claire RoseAverage height on

the team

Freshmen on Varsity

Wins by Varsity in regular season

Volleyballs used for everyday practice

By the By the NUMBERSNUMBERS 6:00

Time practice starts in the morning

>>Photos courtesy of Donna Billmire

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1. ! e Lady Eagles Eaglebuilt poster. 2. “We are ! red up!” echoes through the gym as the team gets ready for a big game. 3. Players watch intently from the sideline, waiting for their team to score. 4. Showing sportsmanship, the Lady Eagles shake their oppe-nents hands a$ er a win. 5. Libero, Amanda Delka, shows her hops as she high # ves her tall teammate.

13TheJournalOctober2011

Sports

New members are inspired by watching the seniors. ”It’s cool to see the team grow and to see ev-eryone improve,” senior Amanda Delka said. Winning isn’t everything, but it’s a bonus. “We work for it,” Dale said. “It feels good to win, but we work harder than anybody else so we should win.” ! e team feels closer this year, than in the past. “Besides everyone getting better, we’ve been more rounded,” Dale said. “We also have bond-ed more and we play well as a team.” Park’s # rst year in high school she loves play-ing volleyball. “! e workouts are a lot harder than middle schools,” she said. “But we have a coach that ex-plains a lot really well and we have team leaders and role models for us younger ones.” Playing on varsity for two years Delka enjoys the cool experience. “! ere’s so much going on, it’s not just one thing happening,” Delka said. “It’s exciting.” On their way to playo" s Rose speaks to the team with determination. “I couldn’t be more proud of these ladies that work hard everyday to do a sport they love,” Rose said.