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Pirates playing summer volleyball
  
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By Tom Munds
For the first time in several years, Englewood High School is playing in the city recreation department’s summer volleyball league.
Many schools field two teams, one that plays Tuesday nights and the other that plays Thursday night. But, while the turnout was pretty good, the Pirates didn’t have enough players sign up to make to full squads so they only fielded the single team that plays on Thursdays.
The league is a regular summer Englewood Recreation District program. This year there are 15 high school teams in the league so the league is split into two divisions.
Teams begin play in early June and the competition runs through the end of July so each team plays eight matches against divisional opponents and there is a tournament at the end of the regular season.
The Pirates were on the court June 18 in a match against Jefferson. Pamela Mayer, assistant coach working with coach Jes Lucero, directed the June 18 action, shuttling players in and out of the games to try to give equal playing time to about a dozen athletes who came out to the match.
“We graduated eight seniors in June so we’ll be a young team this fall. So, this summer, it is more important to get our players out there on the court as much as possible than it is to try to win matches,” Mayer said. “Playing this summer is a huge advantage for the girls who are out here with us. It lets the kids on our teams to get to know each other and know how teammates play so, when fall comes, we can focus on teaching techniques.”
Again this season, almost every opponent will enjoy a height advantage over the Pirates.
So, the coach said the Pirate’s general game plan will be to take advantage of the players’ quickness to play aggressive defense. That will involve diving on the floor to “dig” the shot so it stays in play and making good passes to teammates.
“We do have some girls who can spike the ball and we’ll do that when we can,” she said. “But we’ll have a lot of emphasis on keeping the ball alive, getting it across the net and force the opponent to make the mistakes.”
Chrissy Ruggera is one of the players on the summer team. She said she is playing volleyball this summer because she loves the game and it’s her favorite sport.
She said she is a setter and she likes to move in and set the ball so a teammate can hit it over the net.
“This summer is awesome. We are having fun and really getting to know each other,” Ruggera said. “We are becoming a team and it’s like a big sisterhood.”
She said playing this summer helps her improve her play as a setter. She said it also has helped her improve her serve.
Ruggera said the practices and the summer matches have helped her improve her serving techniques so she not only hits the ball harder but is better able to place it so it’ll be hard for the opponent to make the return.
Mariah Holman is one of the few Pirates who saw varsity playing team last season. She said she is glad so many of the girls are playing summer volleyball which helps them to better work together as a team.
“Personally, I love volleyball. It’s my favorite sport, probably because I am very intense and competitive,” she said. “My favorite play is spiking the ball. I can jump pretty well and spiking the ball is the chance to hit someone on the other team hard with the ball.”
She said the team is working hard to get better and she feels it will pay off for them.
“We are learning to work together,” she said. “That will be a big plus for our team when we start practice in August.”
Many schools field two teams, one that plays Tuesday nights and the other that plays Thursday night. But, while the turnout was pretty good, the Pirates didn’t have enough players sign up to make to full squads so they only fielded the single team that plays on Thursdays.
The league is a regular summer Englewood Recreation District program. This year there are 15 high school teams in the league so the league is split into two divisions.
Teams begin play in early June and the competition runs through the end of July so each team plays eight matches against divisional opponents and there is a tournament at the end of the regular season.
The Pirates were on the court June 18 in a match against Jefferson. Pamela Mayer, assistant coach working with coach Jes Lucero, directed the June 18 action, shuttling players in and out of the games to try to give equal playing time to about a dozen athletes who came out to the match.
“We graduated eight seniors in June so we’ll be a young team this fall. So, this summer, it is more important to get our players out there on the court as much as possible than it is to try to win matches,” Mayer said. “Playing this summer is a huge advantage for the girls who are out here with us. It lets the kids on our teams to get to know each other and know how teammates play so, when fall comes, we can focus on teaching techniques.”
Again this season, almost every opponent will enjoy a height advantage over the Pirates.
So, the coach said the Pirate’s general game plan will be to take advantage of the players’ quickness to play aggressive defense. That will involve diving on the floor to “dig” the shot so it stays in play and making good passes to teammates.
“We do have some girls who can spike the ball and we’ll do that when we can,” she said. “But we’ll have a lot of emphasis on keeping the ball alive, getting it across the net and force the opponent to make the mistakes.”
Chrissy Ruggera is one of the players on the summer team. She said she is playing volleyball this summer because she loves the game and it’s her favorite sport.
She said she is a setter and she likes to move in and set the ball so a teammate can hit it over the net.
“This summer is awesome. We are having fun and really getting to know each other,” Ruggera said. “We are becoming a team and it’s like a big sisterhood.”
She said playing this summer helps her improve her play as a setter. She said it also has helped her improve her serve.
Ruggera said the practices and the summer matches have helped her improve her serving techniques so she not only hits the ball harder but is better able to place it so it’ll be hard for the opponent to make the return.
Mariah Holman is one of the few Pirates who saw varsity playing team last season. She said she is glad so many of the girls are playing summer volleyball which helps them to better work together as a team.
“Personally, I love volleyball. It’s my favorite sport, probably because I am very intense and competitive,” she said. “My favorite play is spiking the ball. I can jump pretty well and spiking the ball is the chance to hit someone on the other team hard with the ball.”
She said the team is working hard to get better and she feels it will pay off for them.
“We are learning to work together,” she said. “That will be a big plus for our team when we start practice in August.”
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