Girls’ Volleyball: Mollahan sets team up for victory

“You have to have good leadership qualities, you have to be fast and you have to be willing to hit the floor,” sophomore Katelyn Mollahan said, explaining that her position as setter on the girls’ volleyball team involves more than just setting the ball up for a hit.

Mollahan began playing volleyball when she was 7. In fifth grade, she joined the volleyball team at her former school, Sacred Heart.

Since her freshman year, Mollahan has played the setter position for the varsity team. The setter normally takes the second ball in order to set it up for the hitter, who returns the ball to the opponent’s side of the court.

“If someone shanks a pass, it’s my job to go get the pass and put it back in the court so someone can hit it over,” Mohallan said.

Having a good setter is crucial for the team to succeed. Mollahan must set a solid foundation for the offense, said the team’s coach, Brad Frederickson.

Mollahan has proven herself a capable setter. Although the varying quality of passes often affects her performance, Mollahan received “what were often poor passes” but made “great sets that allowed our hitters to be offensive,” Frederickson said.

However, performance is not the setter’s only concern while on the court.

“As the setter, you are one of the team’s leaders besides the team captains,” Mohallan said. ”Everyone looks up to you, so your attitude matters a lot on the court.”

Although the captains normally take on the role of pumping up the team, the setter also plays a significant role in getting the team back on track.

The game against Milpitas on Sept. 29 highlighted the team’s ability to make a comeback against a tough opponent. Frederickson said it was the first time “where the girls really persevered in a close match.”

Losing 24-23 in the last set of the match, the team refused to give up and came back with a 29-27 win, thus securing their 3-1 victory.

“We kept with the effort the whole time,” junior opposite hitter Sierra Smith said. “It was a lot of teamwork.”

Nonetheless, Frederickson believes that the team has improvements to make, especially in terms of passing, serving and maintaining more intensity throughout the game. Mollahan is confident that her team has the ability to achieve these results.

“We have a really young team,” Mollahan said, “which means we have a lot of room for improvement, and if we keep improving at the rate we’re improving now, we’ll be very good.”
Look ahead into the season, Mollahan feels ready to face and overcome the challenges.

“[Right now] I think we’re playing the best we’ve ever played,” Mohallan said. “We’ve had a couple of tough games this year and the most recent ones have taught us that we need to fight for something and persevere.”