WHS varsity volleyball works on sharpening skills during preseason games

By Matt Pascarella

In preparation for the start of the regular season, Windham High School’s varsity volleyball team played in the preseason Greely Play Day at Greely High School in Cumberland on Saturday, Aug. 22.

Windham senior Shaylin Burrell sets the ball for her
teammates in a prep volleyball game against Cheverus
during a preseason 'Play Day' at Greely High School
in Cumberland on Saturday, Aug. 22.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“We’re starting off getting a bunch of mechanics down and getting players comfortable with each other,” said Windham High varsity volleyball coach Chris Cloutier. “Improvement (is the goal). Wins will come with the improvement. It’s letting them get comfortable on the floor, making decisions, communicating with each other. One of the things we emphasize is being ok with failure, because failure leads to growth. We were aggressive, our centers were doing well with getting the balls out to the hitters, defensive coverage was pretty good. Getting comfortable in serve-receive (needs work) and knowing the tendencies of the players when you’re in serve-receive ... anticipating versus watching and reacting.”

The day was broken into 30-minute play periods scored to 25. This was the first time this varsity team played together against other varsity teams. Windham played four games total in which they beat Wells 25-10, lost to Greely 25-10, played a very, very close game with Gray New-Gloucester where they came back from being significantly behind to end the game in a 25-25 tie (winner had to win by two) and then lost to Cheverus 25-17 in the final game.

“I think we did great; I’m glad we got to do this before the real season started,” said Windham junior Ava Sibley. “I think this was a great start to the preseason. We played against some teams we don’t play in the regular season. Our serve-receive was really good. I think everyone did a good job hitting and serving, our serving percentage was really good as well. Sometimes people get in their heads, so I think we need to work on getting our energy up no matter what happens. My takeaway from today is it doesn’t really matter if we win or lose, it’s having fun that matters the most – when you’re having fun you play your best.”

Windham senior and libero Zoi Candelmo said that the Play Day games help the team to see what they need to work on, and it helps their coach to see issues at the start of the season. Their goal is to try to come together as a team. They lost 12 seniors to graduation, so they’re building a whole new team.

“It’s really easy to do the drills (in practice) and expect it because you know where the balls going to go in the drill, but when you go up against players you don’t know; it’s really helpful getting a read on them,” said Windham senior Shaylin Burrell. “It’s so helpful because you get a taste of what it’s going to be like playing these teams without it actually being (scored) for something.”

She said that the team chemistry is really good this season.

“Learning to work together went well,” said Candelmo. “During a few games our serve-receive was good. We came in with three goals: serve-receive, ball-setter, ball-hitter and blocking, and we did well in trying to improve on those goals. We need to work on where to be and when to be there. Setting our blocks at the right place to allow our defense to play around it.”

The takeaway for both Candelmo and Burrell was that the Play Day games were helpful. They got to see what they need to improve upon and had fun in the process. They believe Windham is a balanced team that plays well together and will only get better.

Windham’s varsity volleyball will compete in its home-opener against Gray New-Gloucester at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8. <