On Tuesday, Oct. 17, emotions broke the silence in the main gym as Carolyn Hudson, who is a veteran of the McLean Volleyball program’s coaching staff, began to speak.  “Coach” Hudson started by informing those spectators who were unaware of the sentiment of the night that this was the senior recognition night, one that the three senior girls have a love-hate relationship for.

Sabine Awad, Lorelei Legg, and Maddie McArthur were all individually escorted across the court while Hudson announced a little bit about the girls and letters that they wrote to the team, fans and parents. A teammate handed each of them a flower, and in those few moments tears would be flowing from not only the graduating, but the entire gym.

“The atmosphere was bittersweet,” four year varsity player McArthur said.

Following the speech the team started to warm up to take on the South Lake Seahawks, most still with tears in their eyes.

The emotion-driven game resulted in a four set win for McLean.

This is the first year head coach John Delaney has coached McLean, and he quickly learned the passion McLean has on senior night.

“I see the traditions that we have here and I see how important it is for [senior night] to happen, and that nobody takes it lightly” said Delaney.

Following the South Lakes win, the girls geared up to play their biggest rival: Langley. Throughout the week to prepare for the game, their coaches have been trying to change their mindsets.

“Our thing this week has been the word ‘believe.’ We have been trying to push that they need to understand they are the best team,” Delaney said. “We beat Yorktown, Yorktown beat Langley; well then you gotta believe you can beat Langley. It’s possible.”

The girls were ready for a true skill match-up in Thursday’s game. The Highlanders worked for every point not to give up any points to the conference leading Langley Saxons, though the 3-1 loss was a hard defeat the team left it all on the court.

“The Langley game was amazing. Although the result may not show it, we played really well as a team and worked hard. I was really proud of our overall performance and i’m sure the rest of the team can agree,” Awad said.

When the final whistle had been blown the girls walked off the court with heads held high.

“That was a very positive way to walk off the court when you lost. I think they understand that in a week and a half to two weeks we are gonna see them again.  All we had to do is just beat them at the end,” Delaney said in reference to the upcoming regional playoff.

The team looks forward to their first round of regionals to be played on their home court on Wednesday, Oct. 25.

Senior Reflections

The senior players also shared their gratitude for those who helped them along the way.

“My biggest thank you is to Steve Stotler,” McArthur said, “He has been by my side since I was in 3rd grade and is part of the reason I started playing. I couldn’t be more grateful to him for pushing me to be the player I am today.”

“I’d like to thank all the coaches as well as the team for working hard and playing hard all season. I’d also really like to thank all the students that showed up every game to cheer us on and support the team. It meant a lot to see our fellow highlanders in the stands being loud and cheering us on throughout the season,” Awad said.

“My biggest thank you for this volleyball season would have to be coach Steve. He has really helped out this year in may ways.  He is super busy and for him to make time for McVolleyball means a lot to me and my team,” Legg said.