The Lancaster High School volleyball team finished their season 12-11 and placed third in their conference. LHS senior Chandler Crowell won 1st team OCC and 2nd Team All District, Audry Hughes won 2nd Team OCC and Scholar Athlete, Madison Kemp was named Honorable Mention, and Megan Green was selected for the Jillian Davidson award “Team Over Me.”

Coach Heather Ingram said that the team had many long and very close games throughout the season.

¨We had a lot of matches go five sets this year. Not all of them went our way, but we battled hard in every single one of them. Five set matches are intense and make volleyball even more fun to watch,¨ she said.

According to the Ohio High School Athletic Association, all varsity dual matches are played in a best three-of-five format. Each set goes to 25 points and the winner must be ahead by two points. However, the deciding set only goes to 15 points. Coach Ingram said the last set was a challenge for the team.

“The team could have battled a bit more in close matches. I wish they had more confidence in their ability. This was probably the most talented team I have had in a long time, and at times we saw that, but just like any other team we struggled to click at times,” said Ingram.

LHS senior Megan Green said that while the team demonstrated a strong camaraderie, sometimes communication on the court was a problem.

“The most challenging was trusting each other on the court. It doesn’t matter how close we are outside of the court. We would always question each other on whose ball that was and it just made our team fall apart every time,¨ she said.

LHS senior Chandler Crowell said confidence was a key factor.

¨The most challenging part of our season is battling against ourselves. We needed to gain confidence because if we all reached our full potential we would be unstoppable,¨ she explained.

Confidence on the court is something LHS senior Drea Echard said she personally had to develop.

¨The most challenging thing I had to face was confidence in myself. I’ve always been extremely hard on myself and throughout this season with all the support from my girls, my coaches, and family, I can say that I am confident to go out on the court and know what I am able to accomplish,” said Echard./////////////

The team included nine seniors who have been playing volleyball together for a long time. Athletes said that the highlight of their season was in bonding with teammates, winning awards, and love for the sport of volleyball.

¨ We got to bond outside of volleyball which was amazing. I also loved just being around my teammates, they are truly my best friends and I don’t know where I would be without them. I love hanging out with my coaches because it made the team so much better with how close we all are. Also, I love when Drea got hit in the head with the ball literally every game and practice,¨ Green explained.

¨The highlights of my season is just becoming a better team overall, we have all improved so much. Another highlight would be some awards I received. I got 1st team all-OCC and 2nd team all district and I couldn’t be more appreciative,¨ Chandler said.

¨We worked as a team this year. We have struggled with this in past years but we all came together as one this year, every game, no matter who we were playing and we all supported each other. One of the best highlights of the season was towards the end when we went into overtime with Pickerington Central, we all gave it our all and played the best as a team together.¨

¨We all are hard on ourselves, but this season we really had to learn that to play our best for the team and we had to believe in ourselves first and in our abilities to get there,¨ Echard said.

For the senior athletes, the last season was bittersweet as they head toward high school graduation in the spring.

¨I will always remember volleyball because it is my favorite sport but I will remember what volleyball brought me. It brought me leadership and some of my best friends ever. The team dinners will be some of the best memories I will never forget,¨ said Crowell.

¨What I will miss most about my high school volleyball athletic career is not only the sport but everything that came with it. The team dinners, the bus rides, the friendships, the talks, the fun practices, the hard practices, and everything in between. I’m thankful to have gotten to experience all these things and take all these memories with me forever because I will absolutely cherish them forever,¨ said Echard.

Ingram said that next year the team will focus even more on the endgame and she has high hopes for a successful season.

“We want to win the conference. This group will be young, but I know they are all very competitive. We want to work on having more of a competitive edge than our opponents,¨ Ingram explained.