[simage=92,512,y,left,]The varsity volleyball team will compete in the District 13 tournament at STA the week of Oct. 25. If STA wins Districts, STA will go on to host Sectionals as well. According to former athletic director Mike Egner, STA has not hosted a volleyball Districts tournament for at least eight years.

Athletic director Mark Hough helped STA in securing the rotational-based event this year by chairing the Districts committee. This allowed him to nominate STA as the site for Districts. The other chairs on the committee voted and STA was elected as the Districts location.

According to Hough, the location makes sense because of STA’s single sex education and facilities.

‘[Volleyball is] an all girls sport and it’s an all girls school,’ Hough said. ‘As far as here on campus, it’s the only thing we would host.’

Varsity volleyball head coach Amy Carlson thinks the location fits as well.

‘Right when I heard [that STA was hosting Districts] I was completely excited,’ Carlson said. ‘It’s something we’ve never had since I’ve been [at STA] and it’ll be really fun for other schools to come in and see how STA supports their athletes.’

However, according to Carlson, the girls must keep their excitement in check as they prepare for the tournament. Carlson trained the girls, bringing in former college volleyball players to scrimmage the team.

‘Playing competition that’s better than you and getting used to how hard someone can hit at you really improves your play,’ Carlson said.

These practice techniques have taken a positive effect on varsity volleyball player, junior McLaren O’Rear.

‘My stress level has stayed about the same,’ O’Rear said. ‘Even though there is more pressure to win at home, we have more advantages by playing on our own court.’

According to O’Rear, the best people to help maintain this sense of stability are the coaches and senior volleyball players.

‘The coaches help us play well by having us work on things we need to do better and the seniors help us stay motivated and energized when it comes to game time,’ O’Rear said. ‘Volleyball is a team effort and we must all focus in order to play well.’

Freshman varsity volleyball player Anna Kropf, on the other hand, is nervous about the upcoming games.

‘It’s the first year and I had no idea coming in and playing [varsity volleyball at STA] what it would be like,’ Kropf said. ‘I had no idea what to expect.’

Kropf also takes the competition into consideration as she prepares for Districts and possibly Sectionals.

‘[Our opponents] are not going to be bad teams, so we still have to be prepared,’ Kropf said. ‘They earned their way [to the competition] too.’

Ultimately, the team maintains a positive attitude as they prepare for the competition.

‘If we play smart and stay focused, we can do well,’ O’Rear said.