As the 2023 Washington-Liberty conference volleyball season ends, the varsity team prepares to enter the Liberty district tournament in the postseason. Overall, the team had a good season with 10 wins and eight losses, finishing 3rd in their conference. There were many tough matches, and despite having a few new players, they worked well together to end the regular season with a win against Yorktown. The Generals played an exciting match against Yorktown defeating their rivals. The varsity team played best of 5 sets, and against Yorktown, they won 3-1.
Coach Keri Bongo stepped into the head coach position this year and is connecting well with the players.
“I love volleyball, I’ve played volleyball, but I’ve never been a head coach,” Bongo said. “The idea of being a teacher and leading a program as the head coach was what my father set an example for me as a child and was a rewarding career. It was a fun and exciting career path, and that is something that I wanted to follow in the sport that I chose.”
This was a sudden change, as the previous coach had been there for many years. Even with the unexpected change, the team was able to pull through with hard work to achieve many victories.
“This being my first year was an interesting transition, because I didn’t want to come in and steamroll the team and lay down the law, because I don’t know that I would have earned your [the players] respect, and I don’t know how effective that would have been,” Bongo said. “However, looking forward, I’ll be able to set up my own sort of regime and set up my own expectations rather than going with the ones that were set before me, so I’m very excited for next year.”
Being a team leader can be challenging, but captains Noe Oizumi and Lexi Danaceau perform their responsibilities well. In addition, with a new head coach, they had to step in and help out even more to support the adjustment.
“It felt like a new, completely different atmosphere, and the traditions were different … so it was hard to adjust, but I got to know my new coach more, and I warmed up to her,” Oizumi said. “As a captain, … we’re seen as indirect coaches when the team needs to do something. We’re the ones that coaches look to to guide people.”
With the anticipation of the postseason tournament matches, the varsity team is preparing by working hard and reviewing past games. The players have made so much progress this season and are excited to continue playing in the district tournament. Oizumi has been a part of the W-L volleyball program for five years and has many fond memories with her past teammates.
“I have a collective favorite memory, just sitting down with all of our teammates and having our team dinners together … and it’s fun gossiping with our coaches and teammates at dinner,” Oizumi said.
