University High School is off to a great start for the new season of volleyball this year, with junior varsity at a record of 4 wins and 8 losses, and varsity at a record of 11 wins and 2 losses.

The head coach of volleyball Mr. Dunn always says to his players before a game, “We practiced it, you know what to do, be confident, and have some fun”. Some players say that his quote really helps them to focus on the game.

This year’s team captains for JV are Radhika Thaker ’25, Nariyah Lindsay ’25, and Grishma Jampal Sudharshanan ’25. The varsity team captain is Mia Rodriguez ‘23 and a game captain that rotates each match.

Both Rodriguez and fellow senior Albiona Teqolli ’23 have recognized that they do tend to get annoyed during games and instead of getting mad at their other teammates or each other, they both remind the team to “fake it till you make it” and smile which they both agree helps the team to think about the positive instead of the negative.

Rodriguez mentioned that not only does the team have better communication skills compared to last year’s season but also they always say a lot of “cringy and corny stuff” when in group huddles and doing so makes the whole team laugh a lot and keeps positivity going throughout their games and practices.

Teqolli mentioned that this year’s season is way better than last year’s, she said that “It’s fun watching the other teams’ coaches get caught off guard by how good they are.”, also saying “Other teams expect to win against us when we have a game but everyone is never expecting how much our team has improved since last season.”

Rodriguez and Teqolli are both feeling great about how the rest of the season will go and hope for the best for the team.

The UHSSE volleyball team has been against East Windsor, International, Classical Magnet, Capital Prep, Prince Tech, Bulkeley, Comp Sci, Innovation, and Aerospace.

So far varsity has only lost against Prince Tech and Weaver and beat Prince Tech in their rematch on Oct. 5. They will be playing against HMTCA, Cheney Tech, and Canton later in the season.

They will be playing East Windsor, International, Classical Magnet, and Capital Prep again in later games in the season.

UHSSE students are always on the sidelines cheering on and supporting their fellow peers that are in the game.