The Palo Alto High School girls’ volleyball team is gearing up in preparation for the 2016 season. The team will be led by coach, Jekara Wilson, who’s in her second year as the varsity coach.

“This is my second season with the same coach at Paly, which is going to be a good thing,” Katie Passerello (‘17) said.

The team this year is looking to improve on last season’s early exit from the Central Coast Section (CCS) Playoffs.

“To get really far in CCS,” DeeDee Ringwalt (‘18) said when asked about the team’s expectations for the upcoming season.

The team looks to clinch leagues and excel in CCS playoffs. The team also hopes to get a top two spot in CCS so they can move on to Northern California Playoffs.

“Going into my senior season, it would be really great if we could clinch league,” Passerello said. “We’ve been really close in the past, so I think this is our year to take league.”

There are a lot of things that the Vikings need to work on in order to go far in the playoffs.

“Defense, middle hitting and middle offense,” Ringwalt said.

Blocking and positioning are among the things that they need to work on in order to reach their goals for the season. Some of the team’s strengths that they will continue to rely on this season include serving, and passing consistency, but they also know that there is always room to improve, even in places you are generally pretty good.  

Their preseason schedule was quite tough, playing three competitive schools, which they believe to be a good warm-up before beginning league play. One of their toughest league opponents is Mountain View. However, many teams are shifting around so the league is wide open for anyone to take.

Their first game is tonight at St. Ignatius and they have their home opener on Thursday night at 6:30 against Valley Christian