With a 6-1 start to their volleyball season, the Mustangs are not looking back, seeking two more wins tonight.
“The past is the past,” head coach Brandon Stephenson said. “We want to go to the future.”
After having a record of 9-25 last year, the first games have given the team a sense of optimism to start this season.
“The weekend at the Wichita North tournament, it was good to see some competition,” Stephenson said. “Our matches this last Tuesday down in the Derby showed a lot of what this team is about.”
Senior setter Mckynlee Dunlap credits some of the team’s early success to the dynamic on the court.
“Our team chemistry is a lot better,” Dunlap said. “It’s not just six people on the court individually, it is all of us working together.”
The togetherness of the team is also a theme that junior outside hitter Grace Ostmeyer has noticed this season.
“I think that our communication has stepped up a lot,” Ostmeyer said. “We are really playing together as a team which is really fun to see.”
Senior middle blocker Addison Hansen said that the environment has changed both on and off the court, especially thanks to the current coaching staff.
“Our setter-hitter connection is better,” Hansen said, “and the dynamic around volleyball the past two years with the new coach has been good.”
Stephenson has also noticed an increase in appreciation for volleyball here at Central.
“Even people on campus are saying this is the best team we’ve seen for four years,” Stephenson said. “It allows them to see, hey, what we are doing, people are actually noticing it.”
This year’s seniors, Dunlap and Hansen, joined with outside hitter Allison Robinett, are the ones who bring out the life of the team, Ostmeyer said.
“They definitely bring a lot of energy,” Ostmeyer said. “They always get us riled up and they always make big plays in big moments.”
Dunlap has mixed emotions about her final season, but is proud of the legacy being left.
“It is definitely bittersweet and it has flown by,” Dunlap said. “We have definitely made a lot of changes and I have seen a lot of growth in the four years I’ve been here.”
Hansen plans to play volleyball in college, but despite the fact that the end here at Central is sentimental, she is proud of the legacy being left.
“It is a little bit different knowing I won’t play with the same girls,” Hansen said. “I know it is going to be easier for the younger girls to continue on with the program.”
