By Abby Journay / Staff Writer
The 2025 NPHS girls volleyball season started out strong with seven wins in the first half. The upperclassman-heavy varsity team hasn’t changed much from previous years, keeping the process that has brought them victory in the past.
“Everything’s the same in terms of how we’re practicing. We’ve been doing more serve receive, so we’re improving on [that] more this year,” senior Samantha Gooding said.
However, Gooding’s final year is not necessarily everything she expected.
“I feel like I’ve definitely been thrown a couple curveballs. I wasn’t really expecting two early losses,” Gooding said, referencing the team’s losses to Hamilton Heights and Guerin Catholic. “But we’re doing what we can. We’re doing our best.”
Additionally, the team’s dynamic has changed compared to last year, making the adjustments to the new roster and especially starters has made a small difference.
“Obviously, things are different. We’ve graduated three people, so that was three important positions. They basically all started,” Gooding said. “There are two freshmen on varsity, which is different from the past, and they play more than a freshman has in the past on varsity. […] And they’re not super varsity experienced yet. […] So, that definitely changes stuff a little bit. But they’re picking it up super quick, doing super awesome”
Going into the second half of its season, the team’s goals are pretty much the same as when they started in August.
“Lots and lots of wins. All wins, obviously. Definitely beat Mount Vernon. Definitely win on senior night. Say a cohesive group. Keep a good culture. Positive attitude, all good things,” Gooding said.
However, now that they are at the midpoint, the girls are prepared for the competition going forward. Roncalli is the main target in this second half of the season, as it will propel the team to regional and hopefully state.
“Roncalli has two losses, technically three losses already. Two were to the same team. But I’m very optimistic about it. I feel like if we beat Roncalli in sectional, we could go super far. I think we could win state” Gooding said.