Paul Roesler walked into the gym at the beginning of the season, facing a team full of young athletes. Many were experienced volleyball players, but for some, it was their first time on the volleyball court.
“Our job at this level is to prepare kids for the next step, varsity or junior varsity. So for us, it’s providing them a good experience and to teach them more about the sport,” Coach Paul Roesler said.
Coach Roesler himself was not the most experienced volleyball coach in the MVC. However, he has a lot of experience coaching after seasons with JV girls’ basketball. Paul Roesler’s coaching skills revolve around basketball, but when he heard the sophomore volleyball team needed a coach, he stepped up.
“I’m more focused on skill, which is why Sydney is our other coach, and we are co-coaching because she’s played [volleyball] and she’s more in tune with things I don’t know, and I can do the things that she doesn’t know, that’s why we work well together,” Roesler said.
With a record of 9-16, the City High sophomore volleyball team worked hard at every practice, getting better every day.
“You can really see the improvement that the girls have made,” Grayce Anderson ‘26, the team manager, said.
The work the team has put into practice through the season has paid off. With their last game of the regular season, they came up with a win against West High, winning three sets.
The team has had to overcome a lot during the ‘23 season, after having many players face injuries, failing grades, and it being the team’s first time playing with one another. There are various talent levels and ages on the sophomore volleyball team, including a few freshmen playing up a year.
“One of my biggest challenges is I don’t really know where to go on the court because I play middle now, and so a lot of times I’m standing there, and I get in the setter’s way. One of the biggest learning curves this year is that I play a new position. So court awareness is hard for me for sure,” Thisbe Lewis ‘26 said.
Coach Roesler has helped Lewis with her volleyball understanding.
“Paul is very good at explaining things to me and baby steps because I don’t understand. He’s very good at staying calm when I make mistakes and helping me adapt to new situations,” Lewis explained.
This season was Lewis’ second year playing volleyball at the high school level, with also playing for one year in eighth grade. She had to adapt to a new environment, having played a new position this year along with a new group of players and coaches. Thisbe’s focus is basketball, where Roesler coached her last year on the JV squad.
“At the beginning of the season, we didn’t work well together. After playing together for months, we have become closer on and off the court. We hope to take home a win this Saturday at our last tournament,” said Anderson.
