BY KASS LAWRENCE ’22
“As cheesy as it may sound, my favorite part of practice everyday is seeing my teammates,” Sarah Bishop ’22 said. Bishop is a member of the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team, which is currently in season for the fall semester. Bishop shares some insider tips on her sport and gives a look into how the season has progressed so far.
“Other athletes may not know that in volleyball, it is against the rules to touch the ball twice in a row, with the exception of blocking, so it really is a team sport,” Bishop said. “You have to rely on your teammates to continue the play either before or after you touch the ball. You put a lot of trust in your teammates.”
Every sport has its own rules and different positions and styles of play.
“The person wearing the different color jersey didn’t forget to bring the right one; they actually are a specific position called libero, and because of specific rules that apply to that position, they need to wear a different color,” Bishop said.
“Also each team is only allowed to touch the ball a maximum of three times before sending it over the net to the other team,” she added.
So far the volleyball team has competed in 15 matches since the start of their season on Aug. 31, winning three overall. Records have been broken by Sasha Simine ’20 who helped lead the team to a .365 en route and also a three-set sweep against Anna Maria College on Thursday, Sept. 26. The last time volleyball achieved a .365 en route as a team was three years ago.
“I think the biggest success of our season so far was when we faced the challenge of some of our teammates being unable to play,” Bishop said. “We’re a small team this year so when things like injuries take someone out of a game, we may not have any backups that play that position,” Bishop said.
She explained that that was the case when the Lyons played Anna Maria and some players had to play different positions than they usually do, or had new responsibilities on the court.
“Everyone stepped up to the challenge. I think it strikes me as such a success because it really proved the character of our team,” Bishop said.