You’re walking into tryouts, and you start to wonder to yourself, ”am I good enough to do this?” The emotions are high; you have never played competitive volleyball besides a couple of matches on the beach during the summer. But push comes to shove, you realize you’re athletic, and that you’re pretty good at this sport. And overtime, you say back to yourself, “I am good enough to do this.”
Junior Sam Goller has played many sports at Noblesville High School, whether it was long jump, track, or even baseball. This year he decided to pick up a new one: Volleyball. This season marks his first ever year with the team, and even though he has never played competitively, he has been nothing but a spark to the JV team this year.
”I’ve always been told that I am an athlete, I have played baseball all my life so that motion of swinging a bat and the motion of hitting a volleyball has been there for me, and was on varsity long jump last year,” Goller said.
Goller’s overall athletic abilities help him play volleyball well, but something arguably more important is the ability to work with a team. Head coach for the JV black team Tyler Law sees that volleyball isn’t a one person sport, and that’s a trait that Goller demonstrates.
“The kids that just want to improve themselves and just win for the sake of their teammates and coaches,” Law said, “Those are the kids that make this team thrive and grow. Sam is a perfect example for one of those kids.”
Alongside multiple connections Goller has built with the team over the past spring, he and the team have had lots of fun over the season. Whether it’s going to restaurants after games, or playing video games after a long day, the team knows what good chemistry is like.
”We go to Steak and Shake a lot after games, try to build that team chemistry, that’s important for the team as a whole,” Goller said.
With the great team chemistry Goller has built this year, he wants to create even more bonding for next year, as he is going to be returning to the team for his senior year. But with that, he still has some things he is going to improve for himself.
“One of my goals is just to be good at volleyball overall, I’m going to play club over the summer and will be back playing for my senior year,” Goller said. “And one thing I have told myself to get even better for next year is to ‘stay out of the net’.”
