The Powell High School junior varsity volleyball team showed significant growth by the end of a long season that saw a lot of young faces in the rotation.

“At the beginning of the season we had people in many different roles due to the demands of tournament play and shared players,” coach Kelsey Marchant said. “With those changes, it was difficult for us to find consistency.”

She added that despite those constant rotations, the Panthers were always willing to be flexible and adapt to each role they were given and “truly embraced every challenge.”

Marchant said at the beginning of the season the Panthers started with a number of individual players in the rotation.

“Not all of them had played together, we had pulled up a few freshmen and shared some players with varsity, so there were a lot of variables at play,” Marchant said.

However by season’s end, the Panthers had shown significant improvement and turned from a group of individuals into a team.

“By the end of the season, our greatest strength was our ability to work as a team … They lifted each other up and became such great teammates to one another. It was so fun to be a part of that dynamic and watch them settle into their roles,” Marchant said. “I believe that the adversity we saw early on helped them become more versatile players … It was the most incredible thing to watch these athletes grow throughout the season and reach a level of teamwork despite those variables.”

Much of the improvement Marchant noted was through the team’s discussion regarding the importance of volleyball IQ, shifting the competitiveness of the team in the process, while also having one consistent skill in their repertoire to lean on throughout the year.

“We spoke a lot about competitiveness and raising our volleyball IQ throughout the season and I feel there was a definite shift once those conversations were happening,” Marchant said. “Smarter decisions on balls, anticipating plays before they happen and being intentional on the court in games and practice … As far as skills, our serve-receive was our greatest and most consistent strength throughout the entirety of the season.”

While she couldn’t pick out one particular person because she saw significant growth from the entire team, Marchant noted three freshmen in Anh Trinh, Addie Gillett and Lucy Ostermiller stepped up to the challenge seeing the JV court for the first time.

With such a young varsity team competing ahead of them, the Panthers were able to give a strong group of underclassmen playing time, with Marchant seeing a strong future for this team despite the record.

“In terms of competing with such a young team, I see so much potential in the years to come for these girls,” Marchant said. “There is a certain amount of competitiveness that comes with experienced players, and I have no doubt that if they continue to work hard and grow that they will see more success than we were able to achieve this season.”

She said individual skills will be an important part of developing that improvement for the team, needing to enhance those areas to reach the next level.

“Moving forward, I feel like once this team is able to hone in on their individual skill sets, they will really enhance their level of play,” Marchant said. “There are technical skills that we could always improve to gain more consistency. Offensively, working on smart plays, seeing the court well and running a more complex offense. Defensively, getting a strong, consistent block up that our defense can set up around.”

Marchant added she was grateful for being a part of the team’s journeys and is excited for the players’ futures as individuals and athletes.