With an impressive winning streak, the Jackson-Reed girls volleyball team is ready to make their mark on the upcoming season. With an excruciating loss against St. Johns in the state semi-finals last year, the team is determined to come back this season ready to win it all.
The Tigers started with an emphatic victory against the Potomac School on September 8 in just five sets. The team looks forward to their Tiger Paws Tournament that will host local schools on October 7.
Rallying around their three starting seniors, outside hitter Molly Reeder and middle hitters Rori Gray and Morgan Simpson, the Tigers’ underclassmen consistently have the opportunity to prove themselves in practice and in games.
All of the girls have rallied around each other during their preseason and practices. Junior setter Ida Steinburg commented by saying how “everyone is so supportive and really [has] each other’s backs.”
However, the team’s mentality is something they are trying to fix in order to win another championship banner for JR. Having a standard belief in themselves is one of their main goals which, if they can fix, will transform them into a complete powerhouse for this upcoming season.
Senior middle hitter Morgan Simpson, one of the team captains, talked specifically about the amount of depth the squad has. “If someone gets out with an injury, the next person up is not a step down in any capacity.” The amount of talent the team has this year should not be underestimated and prepares them for a successful fall. The fact that every player on the team is recognized as being important to the squad is exactly the type of mentality that is needed for them to continue to thrive.
Despite all of their success, the girls volleyball is not even given half of the acknowledgement they deserve, as not just two seasons ago they won a state championship. One of their players, current Radford sophomore middle hitter Summer Campbell, was also named Gatorade Player of the Year in Washington DC that same year.
When asked about goals for this upcoming season, all players and coaches said around the same thing: “we’re going for another state championship this year.” With the amount of capabilities this team has, the sky is the limit. Head coach Perette Arrington couldn’t have phrased it in a better way: “We are just going to play Tiger volleyball and do what we know how to do.”
