For many student athletes, sports are a way of relieving stress after a long day at school.
Practices and games allow students to release their energy in a positive way.
“Volleyball gets your mind off things,” said Senior Varsity player Mackenzie Zondlak. “When I play it’s like every problem I have goes away for a while.”
The girls Varisty Volleyball team is coached by Jeff Stark, and their record as of October 19, is 18-12-2. Although, with nine to fifteen games left [minimum] the girls have a lot more winning chances.
“This is one of the best teams that has gone through MHS,” expressed Stark. “We have many players contending for all-time records.” With a tougher schedule, MMVB (Milford Mavericks Volleyball) has seen better competition this year than in past years.
Stark believes his team consists of very strong players but identifies that many teams in their bracket are also very skillful this year.
Stand-out players, (according to Stark), include Senior Erin Winn on both offense and defense, Senior Dagny Stark on offense, and Junior Jonna Villemure as their star setter.
Winn, who Stark considers his ‘utility player’ because she can play so many positions, admits one of their most exciting wins was defeating Grand Blanc.
Zondlak, who is a defensive specialist (DS) on the team, has been playing volleyball for eight years.
She made the Varsity volleyball team her sophomore year and has continued to improve over the past three years. Zondlak expands on the relationship between not only the Varsity team, but all three levels.
She explained how JV and Varsity will come to the Freshman court to help out the Freshman team, and the JV and Freshman team stay after their games to support the Varsity team. “We are a big family with three levels,” said Jeff Stark. “Not three teams.”
Zondlak has received a few college offers, but is unsure if she would like to continue her volleyball career after this season. Dagny Stark has been playing volleyball her whole life.
With both of her parents coaching since she was two years old, she has been around the sport her entire childhood.
“My favorite part of volleyball is when you’ve been working on a play for a long time and you’ve been struggling with it and then suddenly it clicks and you just get that ‘wow moment’ of “DANG! I just annhilated that ball!” said Dagny Stark with a laugh. She admits to enjoying having her dad as her coach.
She feels he is harder on her because he expects more out of her, but overall she admits how fun it is having him coach her.
Dagny plans to attend Macomb Community College on a volleyball scholarship next fall.
The team travels to Villemure is looking forward to next season despite the loss of nine seniors. “I’m happy to be a senior next year” said Villemure. “It’s going to be hard, but I’m very excited.”
The girls faced off against Walled Lake Central last night at LHS, and defeated WLC within the first three matches of the game. They hope to continue on in districts as they play Lakeland this upcoming Friday.