By: Nora Balidemaj
Congratulations to the MCSM Girls Volleyball team for standing 6-4 this season! Compared to last season, the ladies have won two extra games and these scores have been higher than in years past. This was definitely a comeback from the pandemic because MCSM had a standing of 3-1 during the 2020-2021 season; which is an excellent example of how hardship should not bring us down.
A team isn’t a team without teamwork.
THERE IS AN IDEA OF A LADY RAM…
“What helps us play better is simply being there. Even though our communication stank on court we consistently had each other’s backs. Talking is essential in volleyball.” Says, Amy Kaza (Junior). Making sure your teammates are in check and pursuing them to do their best is crucial. You can’t do anything without being in the right mindset.
We all love our 23NIORS on the volleyball team very much! The idea of keeping up with college applications, school work, studying, volleyball, and even having a life outside of school isn’t easy. Yharelis Ribic, a senior at MCSM, says, “Keeping a consistent routine- it is critical to have effective time management skills. Personally, I arrange my days. I’ll carve out time throughout my day to complete homework, study, or concentrate on writing university supplements. It’s challenging, but I believe the best way for me to balance both is to work as much free time as I can, which is generally not much, but I always finish all of my work.”
“Lady Rams” first win of the season against Hunter High School
Athlete depression and anxiety are when an athlete compares themselves to other players or just have self-doubt about their performance in general. Overtraining can also lead to a lack of rest and depression. Some people catch it and some don’t, but everyone has their own perspectives and methods to deal with it.
Rayme Villalona (Senior) expresses, “Volleyball is such a tactical game. It sounds simple in theory but there’s so much that goes into the game. The stress placed on myself was really anxiety-inducing and I doubted myself to a point where I had constant thoughts of quitting. Whenever we lost a game I wasn’t particularly focused on the score but what I could’ve done better to help my team. I replayed those moments for hours in my head and constantly put myself down for mistakes that shouldn’t have even happened. I went into practice fully prepared to quit, but as soon as I saw the nets up, I couldn’t resist playing. I love the feeling of playing and I realized volleyball wasn’t what caused my anxiety or my depression, it was me, and I shouldn’t quit a sport I love so much just because of my own feelings.”
On the other hand, Alyson Camejo (Junior) states, “There were many times where anxiety and depression hit for me and I end up feeling stuck, but whenever I play it gets me in a better mood. Since I’m not only moving and doing something productive I’m also doing something that I enjoy, it eases the feel of anxiety and depression.”
Like Mr.Weinfeld says, “A sport isn’t a sport without winners” competition gets to our girls. “I think our biggest competitors were ourselves. We have all the skills to be able to win but playing has a mental toll on everyone. If the game is going bad everyone becomes exhausted and everyone just isn’t convinced that we can win and that leads to us not trying as hard on court. I think something we learned around the end of practice is we have to remember when we’re on the court that we’re playing volleyball for the love of the game and not because it’s a competition. When we played and we were having fun and everyone’s moods were up we would win and have a good time but other times we would convince ourselves we were going against a team that was better than us and we would convince ourselves that we were going to lose which lead to that attitude. This year I learned volleyball is a mental sport and letting it get to your head is what causes a lot of mistakes on court.” – Tahmina Nipa (Sophomore)
STATS
| Name | Aces | Assists | Blocks | Digs | Kills | Matches | Service Points |
| Alicia Graves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Alyson Camejo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Amy Kaza | 26 | 2 | 3 | 36 | 60 | 10 | 32 |
| Ashley Lantigua | 18 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 27 | 10 | 35 |
| Dolkar Lhamo Penpa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| Fabiola Javier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Janete Garcia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Jarolin Guerrero Guzman | 21 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 10 | 27 |
| Jennifer Tatu | 9 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 14 |
| Lobsang Pamo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| Rayme Villalona | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| Solen Sofia Busnel | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Talysha Bonilla | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Tessa Chan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Victoria Czerski | 24 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 31 | 9 | 40 |
| Yharelis Ribic | 27 | 128 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 56 |
Comments from the Coach, Mr. Owen McKenzie:
“MCSM LADY RAMS, are an awesome group of young ladies. As coach, I know they have the potential to finish very high in their divisional play and to go very deep in the Play-Offs.”