The girls volleyball coach, Pat Moran, has a unique motto to get his team motivated: “Believe”.

“We need to believe that we can beat anyone. We play in a tough conference so sometimes opponents can be intimidating, but the first step in competing with a good team is believing that you can win,” said Moran, who has been head coach of the varsity team since 2018.

Clearly, that mentality has translated into success. The team hit a milestone, as they beat Fremd in both of their games this year; this was the first time in the program’s history. “[That] was pretty cool,” Moran said. As of October 11, the  team has a record of 21-10. 

Moran’s philosophy when coaching is that he values energy and positivity. He bases his philosophy on what he feels is important in volleyball.

“Energy is so important in volleyball. So I try to practice what I preach, which is to coach with a lot of positive energy,” said Moran. “We all only have so much energy each day. There is no point in wasting your energy on things that are out of your control.” 

One thing Moran values is having confidence in yourself. “If you are trying to achieve something, no matter how big or small that task is, you need to believe that you can achieve it,” he said. 

Moran’s main value is sportsmanship: “Sportsmanship always comes first. The girls know how important this is, and they know that it is my job to communicate with officials. We always want to win of course, but how we carry ourselves and represent our school and program is the most important thing.”