Highland girls spikers work through COVID-canceled fall season, prep for 2021
At the start of the 2020-21 school year in August, Highland girls volleyball coach Katelyn Hagarty and the Lady Bulldogs had their season displaced and moved to spring by the COVID-19 pandemic.
HHS, along with the Bulldogs football team and boys soccer team, were part of the IHSA’s shift of seasons for fall teams prompted by the pandemic response.
Suffice it to say, the initial change was a shock.
“All summer long I tried to be as positive as possible and tell them to prepare for a season no matter what it may look like with or without masks and some of them would have questions,” Hagarty said. “I feel like it impacts the older players and the players that have been in the program a couple of years just because they have an understanding of what they’re missing out on.”
Despite the schedule flip to mid-February, the Lady Bulldogs spent plenty of time finding ways to get better and prepare for the spring season.
“We had contact days and good numbers showing up, so I was happy with it,” Hagarty said. “It was nice to have smaller groups to work with.”
The COVID-19 outbreak that hit HHS in early September impacted the Lady Bulldogs hard for multiple weeks.
“There were a number of girls quarantined here and there, so you never really knew who was going to make it from week to week,” Hagarty said. “I would come in with a game plan and talk to my coaches about it and then we’d have one setter and then just have to change what we were hoping to work on to keep progressing with, but we made do with what we had.”
Players adapt well to changes
HHS ended its fall contact days during the week of Oct 19.
Hagarty said players have basically rolled with the changes during this uniquely extended fall workout season.
“I feel like it’s just one of those situations where you have to make do with what you have,” Hagarty said. “They postponed our season for a reason even though I feel like we could have played within the parameters of the guidelines.
“It was something so new and they (IHSA) weren’t sure how it was going to work because it was an indoor sport and they only allowed outdoor sports at the time so I feel like we’re staying optimistic about having something whether it’s just conference games or what, I don’t know.”
Coach hopes players appreciate the opportunity
Beyond the fall and into the spring season, Hagarty hopes her players appreciate the chance to compete on the court again and to never take it for granted.
“I’m hoping that whenever they get the opportunity to go out there and compete again that they just don’t take it for granted,” Hagarty said. “It could be ripped in a matter of days or minutes even and I just hope it makes them appreciate and really enjoy every second (of it) and give it their all because who knows what is going to happen.”