Rap music blared through a speaker, shoes squeaked on the locker room floor, and a low hum of nervous laughter filled the air before the game began. Just minutes prior to the first set, the atmosphere in the Mentor High School girls volleyball team locker room was a state of dancing and singing to hype music, finishing touchups on hair, and filming TikTok’s for their profiles. As the minutes ticked down before the state championship at Wright State University, the girls took a second and talked and breathed before performing one last time together.
These techniques helped the girls succeed throughout the season. Anna Cassidy, senior team captain, said, “Some pregame rituals included blasting music before a game to get hyped, handshakes with your teammates, singing along to songs together whenever we need to take a second.” These rituals were especially effective at reducing stress when the pressure made it hard to breathe sometimes.
Melody Garrett, senior team captain, echoed Cassidy’s sentiments, saying, “We always do this and take this opportunity to always go into the game with a high mentality, like screaming and dancing in the locker room, which helps and also raises the energy levels.”
The hype is just the icing on the cake of the successful season. The real attraction is the friendships on the team. Cassidy said, “Mentor volleyball is a place I can go to forget my problems and learn to become a better player and a person.” Garrett followed up with, “Mentor volleyball to me feels like a family just like Anna said, being able to go there and forget about all the problems that are going on outside of volleyball and being surrounded by all of my friends while being able to be myself, and it’s just my safe space.”
Big things this season included staying connected together as a big family off and on the court. Cassidy and Garrett talked more about the girls’ relationships. Garrett said, “Staying connected off the court, not just in volleyball. For example, being together in the hotel room, hanging out, and doing team activities like playing that Kahoot game really helps us bond, grow closer, and play as one.”
Garrett agrees, saying, “Off the court, the breathing exercises definitely helped everyone calm down and connect with the energy of the person next to them because you become grounded and aren’t dwelling on what happened two plays ago. Breathing collectively as a group was very helpful. Additionally, strategizing with the coaches off the court allowed us to work together more effectively to win the next point.”
During the playoff run, there were a couple of stressful moments in the games leading up to the big game, and Garrett expressed how the team handled the stressful situations. Garrett said, “I think high-pressure moments are different for everyone. For me personally, it was games that went 24-26 or 25-23. It’s like when you get to the red zone, around the 20s. Those moments really show who’s going to make the fewest mistakes and who’s mentally and physically prepared. That was stressful for me because we hadn’t really played at that level before. No one on our team has played in a regional final, let alone a final four or state championship match. But I think with our leadership and the girls’ mentality being prepared and ready to play, we were fine no matter what. Still, the games went 26-24 or 28-26. Those were definitely the high-pressure moments.”
Mentor volleyball made it to the state championship game against Seton. Both seniors reflected on the match. Cassidy said, “As for the state championship match, we obviously didn’t win, but I think it was a great opportunity. We will all take what we learned from it, and if we ever face a similar situation in the future, we’ll know what to do, especially the younger girls.”
Garrett continued, “At the moment, it was upsetting, but now, looking back, I realize we’re just one of the only teams in Mentor volleyball’s history to accomplish something like that. I feel so blessed and thankful to have been part of that history and to leave that legacy at Mentor.”
Even though the result wasn’t what the team hoped for, Cassidy and Garrett were proud of the effort they put forth in the championship game. Cassidy said, “I’m most proud of how the younger girls stepped up. Of course, us seniors were able to handle it. We’ve played for four years and could find our footing even in new situations, but the younger girls? They played exceptionally well, even with less experience. I was just so proud of how they rose to the occasion.”
Garrett followed up with: “Especially considering that most of them were in their first year, playing varsity, starting in the lineup, and competing at such a high level. I’m so proud of how well they held themselves and the standard at which they played. I’m also proud that we nearly beat Seton in the first set of the match, just two points shy, when almost every other team they played only lost one set. That alone shows how much we accomplished.”
Mentor Volleyball came up just short in the state championship match at Wright State University, falling 0-3. Despite the loss, the team capped off an outstanding season with a 22-6 overall record. Along the way, Mentor claimed its third consecutive GCC Conference championship and added district and regional titles to an impressive list of accomplishments.
