Girls Volleyball is ‘Set’ for Success This Upcoming Season

Nina Krish and Olivia Ganes

The girls volleyball team huddles during a game during the 2024-2025 season. “I think our team dynamic has grown so much this year,” captain and senior Paige Ingles said. “We have so many people who play multiple positions, and it makes our whole team able to win the game for us.”

With fresh energy, returning talent and a hunger to go further than last year, the girls volleyball team is ready to serve up a season full of high expectations and even higher stakes.

Leading the team, captains and senior Paige Ingles and junior Jane Park hope to win Pacific Hills League this season with their league games commencing on Sept. 30. Their biggest competitor is University High, whom they will play on Oct. 2.

“I’m really excited for when we start to play Woodbridge and University,” Ingles said. “We’ve had a bad rep of always losing to University [during] away [games], and I think this year we can definitely take that win.”

This season, the team’s biggest goals have been to increase team camaraderie, satisfaction and player safety, according to assistant coach Eric Graham. Girls volleyball has never won a league championship and Graham hopes to change that this season.

“We got second and lost the league championship on the last match of the season last year,” Graham said. “I’ll have other goals for CIF, but I think right now it’s like, ‘hey, can we go through the league?’ I would love for us to be undefeated.”

To reach this goal, the captains have implemented new drills and plays into their practices. They have tested these adjustments in their preseason games to evaluate their strategy before league play begins.

“What has worked is setting people up who are doing great that day,” Park said. “Also running plays like the slide, especially with Rebecca, our sophomore middle. We run a 32 with either Paige, Julia, the freshman, or Ava, the sophomore right now.”

The team has been more cohesive and balanced this year, according to Graham. In years past, he said there have been a couple of star players that dominate the court, but this year the team is very much bonded and have great chemistry with each other.

“We got 16 girls out there,” Graham said. “We played the ‘starters’ and the people who come off the bench to play, and it was a really, really close game. Everyone’s really competing very well and working very well together.”

After advancing to CIF for the first time last season, the team has been putting in extra training and setting ambitious goals both on and off the court.

“This upcoming season, I’m expecting the team to win the league,” Ingles said.”We have a good shot, especially because of last year when we made it to CIF. We could have gone farther, and with all the training we’ve done [this year], we’re more ready and prepared to win league.”

Donate to Portola Pilot

$235

$500

Contributed

Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of Portola High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

About the Contributors

Nina Krish, Managing Editor

Nina Krish is a Managing Editor for her third and final year on the Portola Pilot. She is beaming to finally write sports stories again with her best friend Olivia. In her free time, you can find her baking or making matcha with Kayley. She frequents Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods in search of new snacks to eat during Pilot. She can’t wait to work with the new staff and plan the best parties

Olivia Ganes, Visual Director

Olivia Ganes is the Visual Director and the Social Media Manager for her third and final year on the Portola Pilot. She’s excited to design new graphics and write sports stories with her best friend Nina. If she isn’t scrambling to finish her math homework, you can probably find her eating a snack and listening to her favorite music.

Ruhi Samudra, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Ruhi Samudra is an Editor-in-Chief for her third and final year on the Portola Pilot. She’s looking forward to being her best social butterfly self this year and getting to know all sorts of people on campus. When she’s not debating over which juicy quote best ends off an article, you can find creating bouquets out of Trader Joe’s flowers, listening to the Magic Happens Parade soundtrack on repeat or investing her entire life into memoirs just to avoid accepting her own bewilderment.