Senior Eden Cha skies for a kill and the crowd goes wild. But there’s a whole lot more that went on behind the scenes before the team could get to where they are.
“We have a lot of kids that have committed a ton of their time in the offseason playing club volleyball,” said head coach Matt MacDonald. “And in our workouts in the spring, in the mornings before school started. When everyone's still sleeping, we're in the gym working.”
Bear River is 34-1 overall as of Oct. 31,and won their third straight PVL title with a 14-0 record. The team is working hard in hopes of winning sections and making a run at state.
“Certainly I think we're probably in that mix to make a run at section this year,” MacDonald said. "You know, make a run at state. I think that's our goal too. You know, we don't talk about it a lot, but it's something that I know is in the back of our mind.”
MacD just had his 400th career win and explained there are always new challenges but he’s always looking forward to the next year.
“It's been a lot, I mean, it's been 19 years,” he said. “It's been amazing. It feels like each year I get excited about the season starting again, you know? They're always new challenges every year and new groups, but I mean, we got great people and I think that's the best part is I just love being around the people that we have, and they love volleyball, but they love being together and it just makes it fun.”
Every team MacD coaches has a unique personality, team quirks, and a distinctive identity. This year’s team is no different.
“I love it. I mean, I feel like it's a unique year in the sense that we have six seniors, six juniors, two sophomores, and a freshman. So the age disparity is wide and we like that,” MacD explained. “Our mantra for the year is ‘Win in the Dark,’ and we felt that it really embodies our team this year because for us to get into the bright lights of the stages that we want to be on, we had to put in that work in the shadows, and we felt like we did that in the spring.”
Gabby Sams, their outside hitter, described the team’s personality as focused and connected.
“I'd say we're very focused, because we want to win, but we can be really goofy at times, because our team has a really good bond with each other,” Sams said. “Like, we may have our little things, but we're all good friends. And so I'd say friendship is part of it, and then focus.”
Change is always a factor in high school sports, and the Bruins had to learn to adjust as they welcomed their new setter, senior Brooke Milligan.
“You know, it's definitely different because we got pretty used to having Taryn as our setter last year,” Grace McKeown, the Bruin’s opposite hitter said, “but Brooke (Milligan) just wants to do what's best for the team, and so she's willing to work hard, which is really amazing.”
Cha has seen the hard work that Milligan has put in to become the team’s new setter.
“She's improved a lot from coming from JV from her sophomore year, and I think she really just has that hustle and heart for it,” Cha said. “She's really for the team and really works hard.”
