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So far, they’re 1-1. Prince Edward High volleyball coach Gracen Jones and her team picked up the win in their season opener Wednesday, beating Greensville County on the road. They had 10 kills on the night, with senior Isabella Arbitelle responsible for 5 of them and junior Madisen Tillerson adding another 3. Arbitelle also contributed 17 serving aces, while junior Lockett-Dabney Zy’Onna had 14. 

The team struggled one day later, however. They lost 0-3 to Altavista in the second straight road game to start things off this year. But beyond winning matches, Jones  wants to focus on creating a group, not just a handful of players.

“My goal for this year is team unity,” Jones said. “I really want to focus on getting players to gel together, seeing what clicks and what doesn’t.” 

The second-year coach saw the team finish at 6-10 last year, remaining out of the playoffs. But with transfers coming in and younger players moving up, Jones said this is a good time to hit the reset button, to build the team from the ground up. 

“I just really think that will take us further than last season,” Jones said. “Last season wasn’t what we wanted, of course, but we have an opportunity to learn from that.” 

Part of that learning comes from Jones herself, as last year was her first as a head coach. She’s developing her own style of play, learning what this group of girls does well and where they struggle. She’s also seeing a couple players step up so far, even though we’re just past tryouts and into team practices.

Players take on new roles 

One of those is junior Stephanie Riccio. The rising junior established herself as a leader last season, Coach Jones said, filling a hole made when one of the senior players left. 

“She’s getting girls to come out of their shells a bit, helping them in areas they might not be as strong in,” Jones said, adding that she wants to play Riccio as much as possible at the libero position. 

A second player Jones wanted to single out is a new face on the team. Arbitelle transferred in, after getting her start in soccer. That’s how Jones got to know her, as the coach has helped with the soccer team as well. Arbitelle decided she wanted to give volleyball a try and showed up for tryouts. 

“She really inspires the girls to come together as a team and try harder,” Jones said. 

Explaining Prince Edward volleyball positions 

In volleyball, there are seven positions on a team. You have the outside hitter, the opposite, the setter, middle blocker, libero, defensive specialist and serving specialist. 

A libero is basically the first line of defense in volleyball. They’re the ones who mainly receive serves, pick up the second line of defense against attacks and keep the ball in play once it’s been hit over the net by the other team. A libero also works to pass the ball over to the setter, so they can line up an attack. The libero is the #5 position on the team. 

As for the rest, let’s go in order. The setter is #1 and is responsible, as the name implies, for setting the ball for the hitters. On the Olympic broadcasts this summer, you might have heard a team’s setter being compared to a quarterback. The #2 position is outside hitter. This player typically is on the left side of the court, responsible for blocking and hitting. Coming up on #3 is the middle blocker. This player is found in the middle of the front row, handling blocking and hitting. The #4 player is the opposite hitter. This player is on the right side of the court, opposite the outside hitter, but with the same job. We’ve already mentioned the libero, coming in at #5 and #6 is the defensive specialist. Much like the libero, but they can play in several different rotations. 

Volleyball is something Coach Jones got interested in as a young girl, following her older sister, who also played the sport. 

“My older sister actually played quite a bit,” Coach Jones said. “Being her little sister, at the time I just had to do everything she did. And it was that, following her around, where I was drawn in. I saw how fast paced it was, and I decided I wanted to learn how to do that.” 

More interest from Olympics 

One thing that’s helped with the turnout for Prince Edward volleyball this year has been the Olympic Games. Jones said she’s had girls come in, saying they want to learn how to play like the women they saw on tv. 

“I think with any exposure to a sport, it really lights a fire,” Jones said. “Some of these girls had never heard of volleyball before and now they’re wanting to play just like the people they saw. They want to learn how to pass just perfectly, how to set up a good attack.” 

That’s also something Jones plans to use as a teaching tool, during the season. She feels everyone on the team, including herself, can learn a lot from the men’s and women’s matches at the Olympic Games and so there might be times this season when the video is brought out to study gameplay. 

As for this season, Jones said she’s looking forward to competing, to testing out her young team. Amelia County, last season, was a bit of a struggle, with the Eagles losing both matches 3-0. Jones is ready to see how this new team does against the defending champions. 

“In order to be the best, you have to beat the best,” said added. “I’m ready to see what we can bring.”