Gretchen Newman and Delaney Cullura
Staff Writers
New Hope-Solebury’s passionate girls volleyball team had a wonderful season. Their season was record-setting, winning 17 out of 22 games. New Hope Volleyball is a committed and supportive team. The girls are not just teammates out on the court, but they like to call themselves family.
They lost many talented seniors from last year which was a concern for this year’s season. Despite this, their teamwork, resilience, and perseverance allowed them to still crush the competition. Their outstanding setter, Grace Hanly, announced that, “we would not be a team without each other” especially with Bella Fleischacker, the libero, who had to throw her body down for each ball she was determined to dig.
Dealing with many distractions, such as subpar calls from the referees, would bring the court’s energy down a bit. Nevertheless, their outside hitter, Sarah Duessing, and middle hitter, Gretchen Newman, would remind the team before each set with encouragement like, “Play OUR game guys! Do not let these distractions affect your playing time on the court. Have fun! Be positive and nothing will bring us down!”
The girls pushed through with this energy, making it into District Semi-Finals, and winning against Collegium High School. Sadly, the season came to an early end by losing to St. Basil’s Academy at District Finals.
Moving forward, the team will be losing five seniors which will affect the team once again. But it won't be the first time they readjust and get back in the system with each other. By welcoming and mentoring the incoming freshmen, the team will once again reemerge to be one of the most dominant in the area. As the team went in for their last huddle all together, the three juniors, Grace Hanly, Cooper Sorin, and Allison Sommers made the group tear up by saying, “We’re going to miss playing with our seniors.”
