VYPE Klein August 2022

Klein forest volleyball

\\ By Ma t t Ma l a t e s t a W I LS O N S E E S W I N N I N G M E N T A L I T Y S T A R T I N G T O C A T C H O N BUILDING BLOCKS

SECOND-YEAR HEAD COACH JENNIFER WILSON IS CHANGING THE MENTALITY OF KLEIN FOREST VOLLEYBALL, AND IT STARTS IN THE LOCKER ROOM. “I was brought in to change the cul ture here,” Wi lson said. “It takes a lot of hard work , but the girls Last year, we were real ly working on overcoming the past . We had to change our mindset and star t to bel ieve that we are good enough to win. Moving forward, we expect more wins . Whi le the Golden Eagles were 2-27 and 0-12 in district play, there was a si lver l ining. have bought in since day one.

Klein Forest’s [Back Row]: London Sam, Betzaida Garcia, Nadazia Simien, Alejah Phillips, Kiearra Haynes and Aniah Jones; [Front Row]: Aleyla Phillips and Aaliyah Gonzales

a defensive special ist . In the middle wi l l be Nadazia Simien, who can control a match. Outsides Aniah Jones , London Sam, Aal iyah Gonzales and Kiearra Haynes wi l l also put down points for the Eagles . Bet zaida Garcia wi l l dig vol leybal ls from her defensive posi tion. “We have eight returners back who were key players for us last season,” she said. “People have been sleeping on Klein Forest for a whi le. We are real ly athletic and talented, and we are going to surprise people this year. But i t ’s going to take 110-percent effor t al l the time and for us to real ize we are good enough to win.”

“Opposing coaches told us al l year long that you would never know what the score was – that we fought the whole match,” Wi lson said. “We are bui lding off of that . “It ’s the l i ttle victories . We won our f irst match for the f irst time in a few years . The girls haven’ t seen success l ike that in a long time. For them, winning sets along the way proves that we can win. It ’s a mental i t y. It ’s bui lding and that should move us to another level this year.” Alejah Phi l l ips wi l l run the offense at setter whi le twin sister Aleyla Phi l l ips wi l l provide offense from the outside and serve as

Nadazia Simien

Coach Jennifer Wilson

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