The bright lights of the gym beam onto the court, and the crowd stares down the white line edges as a black shirt dives for the ball. The ball shoots up into the air, and a fierce hit lands the ball on the other side of the net, where it faces its doom.
Finally, the ball makes its way back into the hands of Angie Wang ‘24 to deliver a final serve. A deep breath, a moment of anxiety filled silence, can be felt throughout the room—slam. The ball gracefully but diligently strikes the ground on the Irish side. The Patriots have defeated their curse.
The GA Girls Volleyball Team has continued its legacy and accomplishments throughout the 2023 season, most recently winning the State Championship against the Academy of Notre Dame, which has won the past nine years.
After working hard in hopes of accomplishing this massive victory over the past few months, they laid it all out on the court at Agnes Irwin on Wednesday, Nov. 8. Additionally, they also won the Inter-Ac title this year, making them two-time champions of the Inter-Ac.
Along with the success of their team as a whole, one captain in particular, Angie Wang ‘24, celebrated her 1000th assist of her career on Senior Night, finishing her last year with a legacy to remember. An assist is when a setter “sets up” the ball for another player to get a kill by tossing it up for them to spike it in the air down to the other side.
“It’s really cool to be able to get those stats,” Wang said, but she also noted that it is “reflective of how good our team is because it really requires everyone on the team to be able to get an assist.”
Wang started her volleyball career as a fourth grader and has stayed with the sport since. She described the sport’s nature as collaborative and would encourage anyone interested to join a team and get involved.
Chuck Dougherty, head volleyball coach, embraced the work that each player has put in this season and applauded them for the energy they have given every day, not just at games but at practices, lifts, and other team-building events.
“The mentality of the team is that they really want to win, and they want to do whatever it takes to win,” Dougherty said, “it’s a combination of the talent level and the mentality of the team.”
“You can still find friends on whatever team you’re on,” Wang said. “It’s super fun, 100% would recommend.”
The Volleyball Team capped off their season with a nail-biting win over Notre Dame in the PAISSA championship, going into a fourth set and receiving the biggest fan turnout of the season.
“Going into the game, I think I was more excited than nervous because I was so confident in our team,” Hadley Evans, ‘25, said. “The nerves sort of went away.”
After working so hard for the title of state champion and finally receiving it through grit and determination, Evans mentioned feeling exhausted from the third set as the Patriots went to 35 points before losing to Notre Dame upon failing to get a two-point lead for the win. However, instead of losing motivation, the team turned their loss into fuel for redemption.
“We played some of the best volleyball we’ve ever played our season in the third set,” Evans said. “Once we knew that we could unlock that, we took off.”
Caroline Smith ‘25, another major player in the game achieving an exceptional 23 kills, mentioned the memo of “not done yet,” which she said helped to push their team towards success.
“When everyone has a lot of energy, we do our best,” Smith said about their success at PAISSAs. “Everyone was so into it, everyone wanted to win, and everyone was giving a hundred percent no matter what.”
In looking toward next season, the volleyball team plans to embrace their message once again, “not done yet,” to maintain their success. They have made a significant presence in the GA community, from their PAISSA and Inter-Ac wins to their “Dig Pink” game in October to raise money for Unite4Her. Their season’s success is not only reflected by their wins but also by their constant determination and hard work to achieve their goals, as well as the undeniable team bond that keeps them connected.
“I hope we get to continue to maintain the culture that we have made this year,” Wang said. “We all love to play volleyball, but we also love each other.”