The team finished with a 6-9-1 record, placing them in the bottom half of the Mid-Penn Conference, in 5th place. However, the Girl’s volleyball team won the 2023 D6 championship.
The high point in the season for the Little Lions was winning the division title game to springboard them into the playoffs.
State High junior outside hitter, Annie Lamotta, mentioned the team’s most important accomplishment aside from wins and losses. “The way we transformed ourselves from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, because we had a lot of players get injured, and we also had a lot of players switch positions, so we had to overcome all of that,” Lamotta said.
The 2023 season was State High’s worst since 2009-10 in terms of record. Lamotta wasn’t overly positive reflecting on the season. “I wouldn’t say it was great,” Lamotta said, “However, we play really tough opponents.”
Lamotta also did some self-evaluation and spoke on what she’s most proud of. She said, “I’m probably the most proud of myself for working so hard over the summer so that I can start varsity this year.”
State High senior Olivia Miller attends many of the girls volleyball games, and she is not the only student who prioritizes those games. “I think the turn out is good,” Miller said, “It’s a lot better than a lot of other girls sports.”
When looking at who goes to the games, families or fans, it can show a lot about the crowd impact level, and how it affects the game. “The majority of the people are definitely families, but I’d say there’s a good student section,” Miller said.
While most State High sports that are outside are free, fans that go to volleyball games, and many other indoor sporting events have to pay. There are differing opinions on charging fans money to get into less populated games. Miller is against the entry fee for these games. “I personally feel like it should be free, but the team needs money,” she said, “From like a player perspective, I feel like you’d want to be free because then more people come.”
Now that the Girls’ Volleyball season has come to a close, the team and players will start to train in the off season. “A lot of girls play club during the off season,” Lamotta said, “We also have summer open gyms, twice a week.”
The team will be hard at work over the off season and is looking forward to improving next year in what will be many important players’ senior year.
