Sequoyah’s Volleyball Team is Bumping Its Way Up

Image Credits: Antonia Acitelli ’29

With the fall sports season ending, the Sequoyah girls’ volleyball team finished with a 7-6 record, guided by Coach Dejennette Bravo and Assistant Coach Momo Moran. It was Coach Bravo’s third year coaching the girls’ volleyball team and this year the girls came prepared to win. The team consisted of 15 girls, all working together to try and improve their volleyball skills and win some games. The first two games were home games at Robinson Park against Highland Hall and San Fernando Valley Academy. Although the Gryphons lost both games, the final scores were close and the games were full of intense spiking, bumping, and setting.

Beauty Fischer ’29 is new to Sequoyah and joined the volleyball team having not played before. She attended all of the summer practices and explained that she continually strives to do better than before. “I like getting better…I like having improvement,” she noted. “And I love being on... the team… everyone’s supporting each other. It’s…a really good sport.” When it comes to dealing with worries about performing well on the court, Fischer said that what she tried to remember was, “This is supposed to be for fun, like it’s okay. And I just…breathe and…keep my mindset that it’ll be okay no matter what happens.” Good communication is also key when it comes to team sports. According to Fischer, what matters are “good teammates…and people that support each other and……don't get, like, super mad at you for one tiny mistake.” Since this was Fischer’s first year playing volleyball, she reflected on how tough it can be for someone to try something new. “Everyone there [on a sports team] started at some point,” she said. “So even if you're really bad, everyone is starting and everyone makes mistakes, and it's fine, do.”

Zola Wills ’28, a 10th grader on the team, started playing volleyball with Sequoyah last year as a freshman and loved playing so much she started to play in the off-season. She joined a club team with SG Elite, a volleyball club in San Gabriel, and continued to improve. With more background in the sport, Wills returned to the Sequoyah team with a better sense of communication. For Wills, the best thing about playing volleyball is “Creating a team that you get to become close with on the court…and making that connection to the team.” Team spirit is very important for Wills and she believes that positive energy really makes a huge difference to the way the team performs as a whole. Volleyball is a very communication based skill and relies on trust. Being able to communicate who is going to hit the ball and cheer people up when mistakes are made is crucial. All players are human and mistakes happen frequently. It’s possible that someone might beat themselves up after a lost point. To combat this Wills told us, “after every point we score on the team, we always come in and give each other a little tap. And I think that makes everyone feel happier and…motivated to keep playing.” Wills believes that the team tries very hard and puts in lots of effort to do well. Wills also noted that having fun playing volleyball is the point–it is supposed to be a fun activity, not a chore.

The head coach of the Gryphons, Coach Bravo highlighted the team’s success this season, noting, “This is my third year coaching Sequoyah High School Volleyball team, and this is the most I've ever seen any of the players come together as a team.” Communication and good chemistry between players is what can cost or gain the winning points. Bravo talked about her personal approach to coaching and explained that she doesn’t play the six best players, but the six players that work the best together. Since Sequoyah accepts everyone who tries out, the volleyball team gets a number of players of different skill levels. There are some girls who had never even touched the ball before joining, and others who play club volleyball (a team outside of school) three times a week. “It's very difficult sometimes to make sure that everybody feels like they're being included and part of the team during practices,” Bravo stated. Bravo pointed out that during games players can get very in their heads. It’s heated when your team is counting on you to make the perfect pass or killer hit. When questioned about what she does about performance stress, Bravo explained, “My biggest thing is, I always try to tell players to make sure that they give themselves some grace, that they're going to make mistakes.” Over the course of the season, the girls continued to get better and improve. For those considering joining volleyball Bravo noted, “If you ever have an opportunity to play, it's a lot of fun, and honestly, it's not that difficult to learn if you really put in effort.”

Ila Rae Brookshire ’27, one of the team captains this year, is in her sixth year of volleyball with Sequoyah. Brookshire played almost all throughout middle school at the K-8 and continued at the high school level; she has seen development in her skills as the years have gone on. When starting volleyball it can be hard getting used to the communication style and the different skills a player uses based on their position on the court. One piece of advice Brookshire wished she had known before starting volleyball was to always try and put in as much effort as possible: “Trying is super important, but [I would tell myself] not to, like, beat myself up every time it didn't go exactly the way I wanted.” Brookshire would blame herself for small mistakes and this would lead to volleyball not being a fun sport like it should be. She explained that this approach can negatively impact how much you improve and your mindset when it comes to playing volleyball. As a team captain, Brookshire has to look out for the things the team is doing well and also for areas of growth. She looks for challenges as a whole rather than singling out certain players. Many girls have already seen a self-improvement or an improvement in another player. As Brookshire noted, “This team is really creating, like, a super fun energy, in practice and in games, and I think that's going to reward us so much in the long run.”

The team has been working hard this season. Family members, friends, and Sequoyah staff have all come out to the games to support the players and cheer for the girls. Overall, given the number of new players, the team’s communication was great and the season was one to remember.