From quick hits to smooth sets, the Hoffman Estates Girls Volleyball team has fans whipping their heads back and forth to keep track of the ball. The past few games the girls have played were absolute nail-bitters, and came down to the last few points. Unfortunately, the team hasn’t been able to get the results they wanted.
With a lot of new talent on the team, the girls are getting used to new adjustments made on the team. At the varsity level, playing together and having chemistry is crucial to the team’s success.
“I found it challenging to adapt to the teammates, especially with them being younger, but it also gave me the opportunity to push them to their highest capabilities and to not get in their heads,” said Grace Ikhbileg, senior. “It can be really hard, talking from experience, but being there for them has been like the best opportunity so far.”
Transitions can be challenging, but they offer an opportunity for a team to grow.
“So we have a lot of new girls this year, which is why I think that it’s been a little bit of a slow start for us. They’re still learning how to play together,” said Patrick Moran, varsity coach. “So hopefully as the season progresses and they get more comfortable with one another, we’ll start seeing some better results.”
The HEHS girls volleyball team’s record isn’t an accurate reflection of the amount of effort this team has put in. They have had a few ups and downs so far, but their coach is confident they will see better results in the upcoming games. Moran said he is optimistic about the rest of the season and plans to work on building confidence and playing more as a team.
“We’re playing with one big mind. All of our mindsets come together during a game, which leads us to playing harder, playing stronger, everybody doing their little parts to deliver the same goal at the end,” said Ikhbileg.
The girls lost to Wheeling in the third set 32 – 30 and also lost to Glenbard North 22-25. With many close games under their belt, the HEHS girls volleyball team has been working on maintaining their positive attitudes throughout the game.
“Just being able to mentally get out of your head while being low can give us the opportunity to push through and win games. [We could be down 10 points, and someone can come in and serve 10 balls in a row. It’s just really a mental game,” said Ikhbileg.
“We’ve been in a lot of close games so far, and we’ve won some close sets, but we haven’t won any of the close matches yet. So I do think that right now, that’s where we’re at. We’re in all these close games. We just needed to find a way to get that last point,” said Moran.
Winning those last few points comes down to a mental game, as the HEHS girls volleyball team enters this last half of their season. They’re working on the mental aspect of volleyball just as much as the physical aspect.
“A lot of us are seniors on this team, so it’s our last season. We want to give it our all, but also uplift all of our other teammates as well. I think obviously, we want to win games, but we can’t do that if we don’t play together and work hard,” said Vbiana Wardah, senior. “I expect all my teammates to have each other’s back and just keep bringing each other up.”
The girls are ready to keep working hard at all the fundamental skills, both mental and physical, that will ensure success throughout the rest of the season.
“It’s just a matter of sticking together and finishing. And that’s as much mental as it is physical, because you got to believe that you can do it, and then once you believe that you can do it, you just [have] to find a way to do it,” said Moran.
