BELLEVILLE - The Belleville West girls volleyball team has won 13 matches with only seven losses this season under head coach Mc'Ashah Franklin. The squad is strong in "resilience and courage" in their matches, the Maroons' coach said.
"I'm really proud of my girls' resilience in battling back in the Edwardsville match," she said. "We started in a hole, 0-5, and then we clawed back at the end. It says a lot about the team's persistence and resiliency."
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The Maroons did rally back to tie the set up late, but the Tigers scored four of the set's last five points to take the win.
"I'm really proud of my team for being able to fight back," Franklin said that evening. "Especially starting at a deficit like that."
The match against Edwardsville was a typical Southwestern Conference match: hard-fought and unpredictable throughout.
"To be honest, that's any conference," she said. "You see it all around the world, in NCAA volleyball right now, there's so many upsets now, because anybody can get beat on any day."
The Maroons are enjoying the campaign thus far, the coach said.
"You know, losses teach us the things we need to work on," Franklin said, "To be a better team you have to continue to improve."
"When our backs are against the wall," Franklin said, "we don't give in, we fight. It's hard to get six people to do that one at all times, and if you're able to do that, really, throughout the entire season so far. So being able to have everybody on the same page, having everybody mentally locked in. Those are the traits that we have as a team."
As far as the remainder of the season goes, Franklin has simple goals in mind.
"We want to continue to get better every day," Franklin said. "Nothing's set, nothing's guaranteed, and so, each time that we step on the court, in the gym, we are getting better."
