Even though the team didn’t make it through all the rounds of states, determined and devoted first-year coach, Alyssa Sedlak, as well as a motivated and driven senior captain, Emily Egermayer, still made them achieve their primary goal. 

Before the team’s games began, Sedlak, Egermayer, and the other captain, Karina Rose—brainstormed team goals and objectives. 

“The main goal was to give it 100 percent everyday,” Sedlak said, “whether that was practice, matches… whatever the players were involved in that day.”

Sedlak was preceded by Matthew Kingsley, who had coached the volleyball team since 2012. Since Sedlack was a first-year coach, she wanted to take a different approach. She previously coached the freshman team. 

As the season started, Sedlak enforced a strength and conditioning program to improve the team’s agility and coordination.

Besides the many fitness programs that Sedlack had her girls take part in throughout the season, a new influx of talent. Sedlak, who had coached the freshmen team, was used to teaching novices. As head coach, she needed to focus on positioning for her capable players. 

Senior Meghan Mulholland proved herself as a consistent outsider hitter. Sophomore Hope Lagemann led the team as a hitter. And junior Elena “Lanie” Hoyt advanced through the lineup over the season.

One position that Sedlack had no problem filling was the setter position. Senior Emily Egermayer was given the position of the setter and “took the role with great authority.”

Throughout the season, Egermayer proved to be a hard-working leader who achieved “more than I could want” over the course of her high school career. 

The senior captains when Egermayer was a freshman on varsity always made sure to accept and support Egermayer as a valuable player on the team. Egermayer used the values and qualities of acceptance and support for the underclassmen on varsity and the whole team.

Egermayer hopes to have left her mark on the volleyball team through her “good sportsmanship acts,” “integrity,” and “all-out attitude.”

“All the girls did really well individually and as a team,” Egermayer said. “We all supported each other along the way.”

Sedlack and Egermayer said that the second match between Glen Rock and Garfield was unforgettably memorable. The team had lost to Garfield just a couple of weeks before and didn’t want history to repeat itself. They worked to improve through practices leading up to the game. Glen Rock ended the game in three straight sets with Lagemann having six kills and Hoyt having six digs.

“It was a tough game because most of the girls were nervous, but we never let that show and persevered to victory,” Egermayer said. “It was also the day that I got my one-thousandth assist so there were a lot of reasons to be proud that day.”