Working hard for district goals

    A new season of volleyball started up with a day of scrimmages on Aug. 7. Both Ganado and Industrial hosted scrimmages for a variety of teams in the district to test out new girls and get the veterans back up to speed. The Maidens also scrimmaged with Palacios on Aug. 8, while the Cowgirls scrimmaged St. Joseph on the same day.
    The Ganado Maidens had Tidehaven, Bloomington and Pettus present at their tournament, and the varsity Maidens looked to have some new faces this season that are ready to make the volleyball their friend. Familiar faces such as senior Hannah Janssen and junior Cheyenne Galindo were at the net and on the court cheering their new teammates on, and Kendall Alvarez has come back to play on the team as well. Sophomore and setter Alexis Mojica was sitting with her team, but wasn’t playing, so hopefully her skills will still be used on the court.
    Maiden coach Bryan Branch had not commented on the team before press time.
    Edna Cowgirl coach Rachel Collins said to be sure, this year will be another exciting volleyball season, because the girls have a lot of potential to be great.
    “Their first week of practice was exciting, the girls pushed themselves to the limits both mentally and physically,” she said. “They are already a team in every aspect of the word.”
    Collins added that they are changing up their offense this season with the hopes of making the team more challenging to defend. She said the team defense is pretty solid and she knows it will help them win many of their matches.
    “We’ve learned quickly about what we need to be in the gym perfecting from the scrimmages. Looking good in practice is one thing, but you have to be able to hold it together when an actual team is across the net from you,” Collins said. “I think the team did a great job of that.”
    Industrial Cobra coach Jenna Treybig said the group of girls they have this year are great and came out on the first day willing to work. “We had a good first week of practice and it was because the girls came with the right mindset,” She said. “Each of our teams are already working together and the girls are focused as a whole.”
    Treybig said the girls and the coaches are very ready to get the year started and playing. She added that the scrimmages went well and was a good starting point to see all the things the girls need to work on.
    The Maidens will have played Tidehaven in their first game on Tuesday, Aug. 11 and will compete in a Palacios tournament from Aug. 13-15. The Cowgirls will have played Victoria East on Aug. 11 and will compete in a Columbus tournament from Aug. 13-15. The Cobras will have played Calhoun on Aug. 11 and will compete in the same Columbus tournament.