The Hamden High varsity and junior varsity teams have had a very successful season. They lost only 5 out of 19 games this season, with their first winning record since 2018. They won their division, made it to the second round of state competition, and got on the banner for the 2025 gym at HHS. They also had two players make it onto the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) team, which is a collection of the best players in Connecticut: Isabella Green, a junior who plays outside, made the SCC first team, and Felicity Potkay, a senior who plays right side, made the SCC second team. It was both of their first times being on an SCC team.

The volleyball team grew a lot closer together this season. According to Ciara Vasquez, one of the captains of the varsity team who plays libero and is a defensive specialist, the team bonded a lot more and became more of a family. Their training schedule changed so that they would have 3-hour practices, 6 days a week, with Sundays off. They spent an hour of the daily practices journaling about their goals, in preparation for games. Evelyn Medina, a senior who is a defensive specialist, said that her mindset towards volleyball improved significantly throughout the season due to journaling more and scouting, which is the practice of analyzing one’s rival players. She said that she was able to be “in the moment” more and was able to push harder because of her changed mindset. Theodora Zuccardy, the other captain, who is an outside hitter and a defensive specialist, said that the team came together a lot more as they “[were] committing to something [with] each other.” She also kept the team engaged as they warmed up in different ways, such as rap battles and dancing. Imane Saanon, one of the team managers, said that the team was very focused because they internalized the phrase “progress over perfection.”

The varsity volleyball team was mostly injury-free, beyond a jammed finger or two, according to Ciara. However, some of the people on the junior-varsity team dealt with injury, which impacted the lineup, according to Sadie Hallas, a sophomore who is a libero. She said that “even with these injuries, my teammates were very determined to help out and be a part of the team, even if they weren’t playing.”

A memorable moment for all was the senior night, which they won. Imane said that it was very high energy. Sophia McDonald, a senior who plays middle, said that hanging out before was really nice and that they had a surprise victory, as they lost their previous game against their opponent. A memorable moment for Ciara was the bus ride back from the division championships in October, which was an away game, when the team chanted a cheer. The cheer went something along the lines of “Hamdens number one, we are the dragons.” A memorable moment for Sadie was when varsity qualified for SCCs and states. She said, “It meant a lot for us as a team because of the amount of work and time everyone put into our team. It showed the improvement and success that was achieved throughout the season.” Another memorable moment was when they had a singing and dance battle against small children during their game against Laurelton Hall. 

In summary, they had an amazing season. Evelyn said, “[We] pushed harder before graduating,” and it certainly paid off. Most recently, they had a game at Glastonbury and a home game on November 4th. The home game was very impressive, according to the DIAL’s very own, Mrs. Alexander. She said, “[They had an] amazing performance. [They were] over 6 points behind and [they] came back and won. My students, Sophia McDonald, Theodora Zuccardy, and Ciara Vasquez, played very well. [The team has] had a strong performance this season.”