After winning regionals last Friday, the York girls volleyball team is hoping to extend their season and eventually move onto state as they compete against Riverside-Brookfield in the sectional semifinals this Tues., Nov. 1, at Addison Trail High School.

“My biggest concern going into the playoffs is that our players are relaxed and feel confident about their abilities to execute against their opponents,” Head Coach Patty Iverson said.

The Dukes have a very young team; nine of the twelve players are new to varsity this season.  

“With the majority of our team being younger, going into the season our biggest concern was a lack of varsity experience,” said junior, Molly Evans. “Yet we have gelled quite nicely.”

The team was successful in beating Payton on Tues., Oct. 25 followed by the win against Jones on Thurs., Oct. 27,  to claim the regional title.

“We’ve all done what we’ve had to do,” senior Kristi Paus said. “We’re all doing a good job of talking to each other and working well together to pull out the wins.”  

The team  hopes to continue their excellent communication and teamwork as they move forward in playoffs.

“During the first game we really worked well together and played as a team rather than six individual players,”said Jessica Levy, outside hitter and defensive specialist.

Although the Dukes have claimed the title of Regional Champions, they are still looking to improve as playoffs become increasingly difficult.

“We need to get better at communicating with each other during every play and after every play,” senior Sarah Rose said. “We need to all work together and make sure no one feels there is a lot of pressure on them going into the game.”  

In addition to communication, the team continues to focus on ball control.

“The most important for us right now is passing,” Levy said. “Our ball control has been a primary focus for us throughout this year. If we can pass the ball, we will be just fine.”

The Dukes believe they have a good chance for success if they are confident and composed.

“I think that if we are playing our best volleyball during playoffs we will be able to be successful but we need to take it one match at a time,” Rose said.