By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD —“I am confident in my ability; I have the skills needed to perform well; I can stay focused under pressure; I can perform well in tough situations; I feel mentally strong; I can stay focused throughout the competition; I like the challenge of competition.”
Those are affirmations that the Wakefield High volleyball team repeats every day, whether in practice or games.
It helps them lock in and work towards the 100 percent belief that they can beat anyone on their schedule and accomplish any goal they set for themselves. Anyone who followed the team through last year’s pandemic Fall 2 season believes it too. The Warriors went 7-5 overall and continued to raise the bar in year 10 of the program under first year head coach Kayla Wyland who returns this season with the hope that her team can finish above .500 for the second year in a row and make the state tournament, which would both be program firsts.
“This group is something special,” said Wyland. “We can do some serious damage this year. I’m very excited.”
The Warriors welcomed back unlimited fans including a packed Red Sea student section on Sept. 13 who helped them beat Lexington in a thrilling, five-set victory, Wakefield’s first ever win over the Minutemen who had knocked the Warriors out of the Middlesex League Tournament in the quarterfinals last year.
Wakefield certainly stayed focused under pressure and performed well in tough situations to earn the win in that one, as they did in another five-set win over Bishop Fenwick on Sept. 11 for the first W of the season. The Warriors are 4-2 so far with additional victories over Watertown and Wilmington while dropping close matches to Reading and Arlington.
This of course means the team is well on their way to achieving their record and state tournament goals this fall. But that’s not all the Warriors focus on.
“We split up into groups and do small group goals and come together and see if any common themes pop up,” said Wyland. “Usually they do.”
Those goals can vary from game to game. They can be anything from stay positive today, to lets serve well.
“We put our goals on a big piece of paper and look at them for 30 seconds before each practice,” said Wyland.
On that piece of paper are larger goals that the Warriors keep to themselves, like certain teams they want to beat – likely teams that Wakefield volleyball usually isn’t competitive with. There are multiple powerhouse programs in the Middlesex League after all, including Melrose, a team Wyland and many of her coaching staff played for and won state championships with. The coaches know to build one of those powerhouses, their team must first affirm the belief that they can. Then they can get to work on checking off objectives big and small.
Wakefield will lean on a talented group of seniors led by three senior captains: Mia Desruisseaux, Amanda Nett and Maddy Seabury. The players got to vote on captains, but Wyland was quick to mention the entire Class of 2022 as leaders.
“Our senior class is so dominant in leaders and strong people,” said Wyland. “It was very hard for us to choose captains because genuinely, they all can lead.”
In that category with Seabury and Desruisseaux (league All-Stars last season) and Nett, is Talia Thomson, Haley Ogier, Hannah Kelley and Claire Donahue. Together, they help promising juniors Paige Butland, Summer Milsky, Mia Forti, Carlee Graham and Christa Imbriano along with sophomores Savannah Cummings and Madison Keohane improve every day.
Those affirmations that ring out across gyms home and away have made a difference on the court. After the roller coaster win over Lexington, in which Wakefield won the first two sets before dropping the next two, Wyland noticed that her team was better at responding in those tough moments in order to regain momentum that often determines the outcome in volleyball.
“This team has matured so much from last year when it was a challenge for us to realize that we can battle with some of these bigger teams in the Middlesex League,” said Wyland. “We thought we had to play perfect to get the end result we wanted and this year we’re learning that we can make mistakes and there might be ups and downs but we can grind through it.
“Even from the season opener against Reading when you could see those nerves a little to Fenwick and this game (Lexington) we’ve learned that it’s ok to be up and down – it’s all about how you respond to those peaks and valleys.”
So long as they believe what they affirm, the Warriors will continue to reach new heights this season and beyond.
