by Anna Bauman

Senior Mireya Ramirez is the only senior volleyball player on the STA team this year. In recent years, the team has had between two and six seniors. This is the first year in many that the volleyball team has only had one senior.

Junior Carolyn Scheuler, a varsity volleyball player, said she does not think it will greatly affect the team.

“I don’t think having one senior will necessarily have that much of an impact, particularly because of the senior – that is, Mireya Ramirez,” Scheuler said. “She’s a leader on the team and she’s such a nice, sweet person with such a big personality that we all enjoy.”

Scheuler said girls from other grades are strong leaders on the team as well.

“All of the personalities [on the team] together make up for the fact that we only have one senior,” Scheuler said. “I don’t even really notice it that often.”

Scheuler acknowledged that it might have more of an effect on Ramirez, who has always had other teammates in her grade. Ramirez agreed and said her role on the team will be impacted by the fact that she is the only senior.

“I feel like I have a lot more pressure to be a leader instead of sharing the responsibilities with other seniors,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said she has unofficial leadership responsibilities such as trying to keep the team positive and spirited.

Ramirez chose to keep playing volleyball even after other seniors stopped because she plans to continue her volleyball career in college and has an offer to play for St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY.

According to Ramirez, she has been playing competitive volleyball for eight years.

“I started really young, so that helped me become a more talented player,” Ramirez said. “I just like having fun and having that drive to improve.”

Senior Maria Flores has also been playing competitive volleyball for eight years, but chose to stop playing this year. Flores played on the STA JV volleyball team as a freshman and varsity as a sophomore and junior, in addition to year-round club volleyball.

“I was planning on playing my senior year but I went to the KU volleyball camp with the varsity team [this summer] and after that I just decided that I didn’t love [the sport] anymore,” Flores said. “I didn’t have the urge to compete at as high of a level as I used to compete.”

With the season currently underway, Flores thought she might have more regrets but feels good about her decision.

“I tried to make the best decision for me and the team [as well],” Flores said. “If I had played this year, I would’ve been tired of it and not putting as much effort into it as I did in the past.”

Flores said she would have kept playing if it wasn’t for the time commitment. According to Flores, between club and school volleyball, it is a non-stop sport that involves a lot of traveling for tournaments.

“I’ll miss it a lot, competing all the time, but now I’ll have so much time to do other things and focus on my senior year and schoolwork,” Flores said.

Flores said she believes, as a senior, her decision will have some impact on the team.

“[Seniors] have been so invested in  the team for longer than anyone else that they usually tend to give more and be big leaders on the team,” Flores said. “I think [the team] will miss some of that senior leadership since there is only one senior, but I think juniors will step up.”

Ramirez said that there could be some upsides to being the only senior.

“I can build my relationships with underclassmen, just getting to know them better,” Ramirez said.

Scheuler said it is an opportunity to work on her leadership skills for next year.

“This year, I’m starting to develop my leadership skills so that I’m ready to go into next year as a senior on the court,” Scheuler said.