Jackson-Reed’s JV Volleyball team, in only its second year post-Covid, inspires excitement and raises questions about the effectiveness of the program. Jackson-Reed has a strong volleyball program, having won 22 DCIAA titles in the last 24 years. Now, they hope to continue this success as the new JV team enters its second year. 

Before COVID, the JV team reliably served as a place to develop players, under the eye of experienced coaches with input from Head Varsity Coach Perette Arrington. Once Jackson-Reed students returned to the building, Arrington decided to only have a Varsity team: “We had to practice in masks,” she explained, making it hard to focus on both.

But a JV team at Jackson-Reed will always be cause for excitement. With a student population of almost 1700, there are never enough spots with just a varsity team. The JV team also comes as a relief for Arrington. Before the reintroduction of JV, she took practice players onto varsity simply to continue developing them. “I’m trying to coach 21 kids just so that those five or six wouldn’t lose ground not having a JV program,” she explained. Now with 14 spots on both JV and varsity, as well as two JV coaches, the program can develop more players and give them individualized attention.

The goal of this JV team is clear: develop players for varsity. Arrington encourages her players to be year-round, but an extra season under the eye of coaches she trusts is vital to creating a strong program. This way, she can create a pipeline, watching players evolve so she can decide if she wants to pull them to varsity. Arrington notes that, “their [level of] competition that they’re playing, the non-leagues, is exactly what they would see on my varsity team.” Arrington argues that the competitiveness and technique in non-DCIAA games is much higher than what players would expect to see in a DCIAA bracket. JV volleyball is not a DCIAA recognized sport but a club sport, so they do not play DCPS schools, they play private schools. When playing in non-league games, JV players are pushed to strive for excellence, playing what Arrington calls “traditional” or pass-set-hit volleyball instead of playing DCPS schools, which play at a lower level and can lead them to develop bad habits. 

Players also enjoy the JV team because of the connections they form. “The team feels like a growing community,” said freshman player Chloe Rhein. Freshman Billie Himmelman is excited because she “ feels like if you make varsity together, you have a lot more chemistry on the court. You get a lot of playing together in real game scenarios.” 

While there is no question that a JV team provides more opportunities to play, its effectiveness as a developing ground for future varsity players is still debated. Some current varsity players have pointed out that this year, no one who was on JV last year made varsity. In addition, some question the program’s still untested coaches: “It doesn’t seem like the coaches are trained to bring them to the next level,” said a player who asked to remain unnamed. “The goal of the program isn’t to progress players, it’s just to keep them at the JV level, so a JV to varsity transition is unlikely.” This feeling is echoed by other varsity players, who have yet to see substantial improvement from players on JV. “The team has a long way to go,” said another player. 

Regardless of the ongoing debate, both the JV and varsity teams are strong in their separate divisions. Look out for a record six incoming freshmen on varsity, who all show a lot of promise with our tried and true seniors as they enter their last year at JR. It looks like sunny skies ahead for JR volleyball fans. As Coach Arrington put it, “Jackson-Reed is gonna be on the map.” •