Nauset Volleyball ‘Meshing Really Well’ In Lead Up To Season

NORTH EASTHAM – After the fifth day of the season for the Nauset volleyball team last Friday, spent scrimmaging Mashpee, it was apparent to head coach Sunny Tyndall that there were some things they needed to clean up. 

Yet she was also, to be sure, pretty happy with what she saw from a very young roster that graduated seven seniors from last season.

“I think the team is meshing really well, which is great,” Tyndall said. “Some good swings, great passes.”

The group of graduated seniors was no ordinary turnover of players inherent to the cycle of school sports, but in fact was a big loss, a hit, and the program saw smaller turnout this year, according to Tyndall.

Nauset has three seniors and an equal number of freshmen. Because they’re young, the Warriors are still brushing up their “volleyball IQ,” the general knowledge of the game like reading balls and court positioning and awareness, Tyndall said. But that’s sure to come with more experience, to the benefit of the team.

“At the same time, in two, three, four years, it’s going to give us a huge advantage to have kids that [have] been playing at a higher level for longer,” Tyndall said.

Slotting in at setter this fall will be senior Molly Archer, while the libero will be senior Stella Smith, who had been recovering from shoulder surgery. Smith hadn’t played volleyball for seven months and only started playing again about a month ago; she was fully cleared last week, according to Tyndall. 

“We were worried about getting her back on the court because it's been so long, but she hopped right back on and has been doing fabulous,” Tyndall said.

A trio of attackers — senior middle blocker Anika Valli, junior outside hitter Sophia Quinton and junior right-side hitter Violet Yingling — also returns for Nauset. The three players, whether it’s an out of system set or an imperfect pass from the setter, “do a really good job adjusting,” and they stay positive, Tyndall said.

“They don't hold on to the ball that they swung into the net,” she said. “They move on really well, as well as obviously having killer swings.”

Those positive mindsets from the upperclassmen attackers could be critical for the Warriors, who started 4-4 last year but then finished 6-13, a record that put them outside of the MIAA postseason Division 3 state tournament. 

The Warriors talked about goals the day before scrimmaging Mashpee. Obviously, like any other team, they want to win more games than they lose, but there’s more to it than that. They’re looking to stay positive as a group — to stay up when they’re down —  and to not give up near season’s end, which was something that happened with the team last year once they realized they weren’t making the tournament, according to Tyndall.

“We kind of just gave up a little bit, so pushing through that, if that wall comes, just push through it and keep trying hard,” she said.