It was senior night at the nest, and Enloe Volleyball’s fans filled the stands in the east building gym. The Lady Eagles battled Athens Drive on Tuesday, Oct. 17, for their last game of the season. Although they lost 3-1, it was a hard-fought game, and a supportive, energetic last stand.

Talking with the players, it’s easy to see that they enjoy not just the sport, but playing with their teammates.  Tanvi Alok is a senior at Enloe and a right-side hitter who described the team as “very goofy, but very supportive people.” 

This was a sentiment echoed by other players as well, including Brenan White, a senior and team captain.

“It’s incredibly welcoming. Everyone is so encouraging of each other and we really push each other to be better players. I’ve felt welcomed on the team all four years and I’ve really loved being a part of it,” White said.

Sheri’ Jones-House, a healthful living teacher at Enloe, has been coaching the volleyball team for 12 years. She said that for her, the rewarding thing about being at Enloe was not the sports wins, but seeing a diverse and academically ambitious group of people interact with each other on and off the court.

“It’s surprising that we don’t have more volleyball athletes that play year round that come to Enloe, but it’s still rewarding to help those girls grow,” Jones-House said.

This year has been difficult for the team, with only one win in the season. But for the players, it’s not just about the game wins.

“Although it’s not always reflected in the stat sheets or the win column, I think a lot of the players have grown in confidence and their skill level has gone up, as well as our communication and the way that we play together as a team,” said Scarlett Raynor, senior at Enloe and team captain.

With seven seniors on the varsity team graduating at the end of last year, several of the players said it was a challenge for them to adjust to playing with an entirely new team, especially at the beginning of the season.

“I think this year it was a real battle to form connections between players. At the beginning of the year, we had a lot of new players on varsity, and so it was a lot about working with these new players to see how we could play well together and adjusting throughout the season to fit all of our needs, so we’re working as a team rather than as individuals,” said Brenan White, senior at Enloe and captain of the volleyball team.

This challenge, however, prompted growth in the team. While the year started out with players not knowing how they liked each other’s balls to be set, by Thursday night’s game, the communication between players on the court was seamless.

“I feel like at the end of the season we established this really cool connection that allowed us to get a lot of cool kills on senior night,” said Alok.

Team communication was not the only improvement: Jones-House explained that everyone has developed their on-court skills, saying that “everyone has gotten faster or stronger or was able to make adjustments to errors.” This proved critical in the team’s suspenseful win in the second set of Thursday’s game when every attendee was on the edge of their seats for the referee call on a set point.

“It wasn’t the best season in terms of record-wise, but every single game, I went in saying ‘Win or lose, I just want to have fun and I want to be happy with how I played and be happy with how the team played,’” reflected White.

For the volleyball team, this season is over, but the lessons they have learned and the connection between players will carry them into the future.

“Hard work is the most important thing,” concluded Raynor. “Whether the results are there or not, working hard, staying disciplined and diligent, and doing your best every game is what counts.”

To keep up with the team, follow them on Instagram at @enloehighvolleyball.