The Sahuaro High School Girls Varsity Volleyball team won their senior night non-conference match against Sabino by a score of 3-0. The first set was way too close for anyone’s liking, being 25-23. It was way too close because you could tell that no one was taking Sabino seriously. After all, they are Sabino. The second set was not close at all with Sahuaro winning by so much, it was 25-10. Sabino is our school’s rival, but their volleyball IQ is very low and not as good as Sahuaro’s, as shown in the game’s entity. The third set was too close once again with a score of 25-22.
As the stands went crazy with excitement and cheers because of the close first set, and the rest of the game being very up and down, the girls overall played their hearts out to beat their opponent 3-0. Before the game, Carly Coolidge said, “I think we’re going to do good. I think the energy of it being our senior night and how we played against them last time this time we need to sweep them.” Our Sahuaro Cougars did just that and swept the floor with Sabino and it being the Senior night, it made it that more meaningful.
This year, the Cougar’s team was stacked with seven seniors – Montana Poe, Carly Coolidge, Natayln Howell, Haylee Au, Gianna Buxenbaum, Maggie Boyd, and Sirena Flowers.
Number 12, Setter/Defensive Specialist, Gianna Buxenbaum, loves volleyball: “The support from my friends and my family have been the reason why I continued to keep playing and the love for the sport kept me going.” She has been playing volleyball for all four years at Sahuaro and continued to play with club volleyball because she wanted the experiences she would get through the sport. She has many great memories and adventures, which were all worth it.
Number 7, Libero, Sirena Flowers: “Playing with my friends and my family always being there for me really kept me going through the season.” She has been playing volleyball for three years at Sahuaro and continued to play club volleyball because she wanted to get better. Her favorite memories are anytime she gets to receive a big hit from the other team.
Number 8, Middle Blocker, Montana Poe: “My love for volleyball and my memories of my dad are what got me through playing and what makes me keep playing.” She has been playing volleyball for all four years at Sahuaro and continued to play club volleyball because she wanted to get better to play in college. Her favorite memories are when she got to block the other team and scream every time she gets a big block.
Number 3, right-side hitter/Outside Hitter, Natayln Howell: “ I love volleyball and my memories with me and my friend’s volleyball stuck with me and I really enjoyed it.” She has been playing volleyball for all four years at Sahuaro. Her favorite memory was at Palo Verde when she was playing in the tournament and went up to hit and hit the girl in the face on the other team, which happened to be her best friend.
Number 2, Setter/Defensive Specialist, Haylee Au: “The support from my friends, my family, and Coach Haynes has been the reason why I continued to keep playing.” She has been playing volleyball for all four years at Sahuaro and continues to play club volleyball. She has many great memories, which were all worth it.
Number 4, Outside Hitter, Carly Coolidge:“ I love volleyball and my memories with me and my friends, and being able to play after my injury was everything.” She has been playing volleyball for all four years at Sahuaro. Her favorite memory was at Flowing Wells when she was playing in the tournament and the Walden Grove coach said she’s not hitting, the next play she hit the ball so hard and screamed out of excitement and the coach looked the other way.
Number 5, right-side hitter/Middle Blocker, Maggie Boyd:, “I liked volleyball sophomore year but I didn’t play my junior year. I am glad that I decided to play this year.” She has been playing volleyball for two years. She has many great memories from her sophomore year and this year with her friends, and she is very thankful.
The head coach for the team and College and Career Counselor, Mr. Haynes, said that this year was probably his favorite year coaching the girls here. He enjoys seeing them support each other and watching the laughter they share. He has been coaching varsity at Sahuaro for four years and has coached several of tonight’s seniors on varsity for all of his time at Sahauro.
