“Pressure is a privilege,” said Alex Kinzer ‘16, a captain of the Women’s Volleyball Team, a team who just won its third straight ODAC championship title.

The team did not feel stressed by the pressure of two past successful seasons. In fact, according to Kinzer, the team thrives from it, and as a result the team was able to meet its number one goal for the season: “achieve an ODAC championship.”

In order to win ODACs, the team had to win a series of three matches. The team defeated Lynchburg in the final round, with a score of 3-1.

Head Coach Bryan Snyder explained that both the quarterfinal and semifinal matches were challenging because the team was behind in the fifth set of both matches; however, the players were able to pull through for the win. In the fourth set of the final game, the team was down against Lynchburg, but the team pulled through by playing “5 nearly perfect points,” according to Snyder. He said he is very proud that the girls played exactly as they had practiced.

“For the players to be able to do that in such a challenging situation just proves that they really understand and believe what we are trying to teach them,” said Snyder. “It was one of our goals this year to win the ODAC Championship, and it always feels good to achieve a goal that you put so much into achieving.”

According to Captains junior Maddie Kosar and senior Kelly McManus, the ODAC “has gotten tougher each year,” and they believe the team owes its success in the final game to the players’ consistent playing strategy and strong team bond.

“Our team plays at a consistent, high level of volleyball which allows us to beat our opponents, especially in long matches,” they said. “Our team as a whole is very close and we know how to uplift each other in high stakes games.”

Coach agrees that the team’s well-known chemistry is especially important to its performance.

“Every single player in our program wants each of her teammate’s to do her best each and every day,” said Snyder.  “They challenge each other in the gym every day, and they hold one another to a very high standard with regards to commitment, effort, improvement and performance.”

Additionally, Coach Snyder believes that the players’ comprehensive skill sets have played a big role in the team’s accomplishments.

“We have changed our lineup and our rotations quite a bit this year, but whatever we have asked players to do within our offensive and defensive systems, they have responded,” he said. “It has also given us a lot of options in how we play the game, which allows us to keep our opponents guessing at times.”