ORR volleyball advances into Final Four with a new winning strategy
Junior Stella Holbrook sets the ball during Old Rochester Regional's Friday, Nov. 13 game against Groton-Dunstable.. Photos by Tanvi Kulkarni
The volleyball players are introduced as the crowd cheers them on.
The team huddles before the big game.
Junior Stella Holbrook sets the ball during Old Rochester Regional's Friday, Nov. 13 game against Groton-Dunstable.. Photos by Tanvi Kulkarni
The volleyball players are introduced as the crowd cheers them on.
The team huddles before the big game.
MATTAPOISETT — Old Rochester Regional's volleyball varsity girls are killing it on and off the court this season, with the help of a new strategy from Coach Jimmy Oliveira.
ORR beat Groton-Dunstable 3-0 during the Nov. 13 home game, securing a spot in the Final Four and jumping to 20 wins this season.
Oliveira said the team had a different approach to the season. Whereas past goals were making it to state championships, the team did a lot of work off the court this year. The athletes did a lot of reflective thinking, Oliveira said, thinking about who they are, how they want to be perceived and future actions to acheive that.
"This year, we took an approach of improving as individuals. Hopefully that translates into success on the court," Oliveira said. "We've been fortunate to have made it to the Elite Eight since it's existed. This is where it starts to get interesting. There's just a little bit more excitement, more focus."
Senior Molly Franco, one of the team captains, said the team has "silent time" for 10 minutes before each game, which they spend reflecting and visualizing how they want the game to go for themselves. The atheletes also share goals for the game in the locker room so teammates can hold each other accountable.
"My goal coming into the season was really just to have fun and build a lot of connections with my teammates. As the season progressed and I realized we really do have a chance at going far in the off season, I think our goals shifted toward making it really far in a state championship."
Junior Erin Root said she wanted the team to communicate well on the court this game, and of course, have fun.
"My goal for today (was) to get my team really hyped up for this game," she said. "I think we've been doing really good so far this year, and that's really because we've been focusing less on winning our games but winning our own competitions with ourselves when it comes to getting better on the court."
The team lost two games out of 22 this season, and it has the top standing in the South Coast League and third in its state division.
"This team is already so driven," Franco said. "Everyone wants this so bad. Our goal really is to just make it as far as we can, and I know every single girl on my team is going to try as hard as they can to make that happen."
