Last week, the Mount Holyoke athletics department participated in the NCAA’s Division III Week with its own spirit week. According to the NCAA, the purpose of Division III Week is to “celebrate the impact of athletics and of student-athletes on the campus and surrounding community.” National Student-Athlete Day took place during Division III Week on April 6.
Pictured above: Mount Holyoke Volleyball competing in their 2019-2020. Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Athletics.
By Gigi Picard ’22
Sports Editor
This edition’s team of the week is Mount Holyoke Volleyball.
Captain Brayden Walden ’21 talked about what the team has been up to. According to her, Mount Holyoke Volleyball held several virtual meetings in the summer and fall. During the summer, the team posted challenges on their social media as a way to build “relationships within the team,” Walden said. “This was always fun to do and see how others did it while also keeping our hands on a volleyball while away from campus,” she added.
There is currently one first-year on the team and two other walk-on players. Walden stated that they “fit into our team perfectly and we’ve all had fun getting to know them and slowly getting them used to the craziness that is the volleyball team[.]” She added that the new players are “super outgoing” and the team is overall happy with the new recruits.
Additionally, Head Volleyball Coach Iris Carpio started a Friends of MHC Cans for Change collection over the summer with Assistant Rowing Coach Cara Murphy. Collectively, the team raised $1,500 for the NAACP.
“With redemption centers closed due to the pandemic, we offered to drive and collect cans from colleagues and friends across campus at their homes for about two months and redeemed the recyclables for change that added up to a nice donation [toward] change,” Carpio said.
In terms of its fall training schedule, the team works out twice a week. Outside of workouts, the team meets virtually every other Saturday to catch up. According to Carpio, the team talks about their plans, academics, goals and other topics.
Walden reminisced about what the team misses besides playing on the court, including post-practice boba runs and team bonding. “I think the biggest thing [our] team misses about the season is just getting to be around each other and hanging out,” she said. “We are lucky that, while we’re a small team, we are also a pretty close-knit team. So I think we are all missing just seeing each other in person and getting to hang out with each other.”
”I'm extremely proud of how my team has handled all the ongoing issues,” Capro added. “It’s been a very heavy time for everyone and they have handled things with thoughtfulness, understanding [and] flexibility [while] supporting one another.”
