By Chrissy Mayer, Cindy Jin & Emma Yang, Contributing Writers

If you’re on the third floor of the LOC after school, you may hear the swoosh and thumps of volleyballs coming from the gym. Calls of excitement fill the air, and the striking pound of a jump serve echoes through the gymnasium walls. Hype posters, written with cheers of “You got this!” are hung on the walls, rooting athletes on as they get ready for their biggest game of the year—Under the Lights (UTL). But how exactly did these athletes prepare for UTL, and how did they feel about their game?

The JV Volleyball Team competed against Dana Hall at this year’s UTL, a game that Emily Jiang ’28, a member of the team, was especially excited about.

The JV team practices every day after school from 3 to 5 p.m. As UTL approached, athletes prepared for the upcoming competition both mentally and physically. The team trains by practicing spiking and serve receive drills. Additionally, team members play against each other in three-on-threes to encourage the competitive energy and hustle that was critical in their game against Dana Hall. These practices are physically demanding. When asked if practices are stressful, Jiang responded, “Volleyball can be quite frustrating when it’s hard, but when you achieve something, you feel really proud and accomplished.” 

In describing the atmosphere at practice, Jiang emphasized that the “team has great effort every practice.” She also discussed how the support from friendships and the team benefits their communication and mutual improvement: “The Winsor JV Volleyball team is a great team where there is dedication to practice; that’s why I think we’re going to win our game against Dana Hall,” Jiang continued, “Everyone needs to come to the JV Volleyball game because it’s the first [Upper School] game of UTL!”

While the JV Volleyball game was a close one, they unfortunately lost 0-2. However, every player on the team brought great energy to the floor which it made it an especially exciting game to watch. We hope everyone came to cheer for the team on their big day under the lights.