The LHS girls volleyball team has welcomed three new coaches for the 2015 season: head coach Janice Figueroa, junior varsity coach Jamie Thomas, and freshman coach Ethan Campbell.

“I have played volleyball since the 7th grade started as a JV player freshmen year and was pulled up mid way through to varsity until I graduated from high school,” says Figueroa.  “I have coached volleyball for about 10 years. I started as a JV coach, helped build programs from scratch and was an assistant varsity coach for 2 years, and now I am the head varsity for the first time.”

Junior Varsity Coach Thomas has coached for three years, and has played for 15 years.

“I played as a defensive specialist in high school,” says Thomas,  “and now I play in adult leagues indoor and outdoor.”

This is Freshman Coach Campbell’s first year coaching, but he has played since his freshman year of high school.

The volleyball tryouts were held on Aug. 27, 28 and 29. Due to there being 19 freshmen signed up to try out for the team, coaches were forced to have a freshman team instead a of JVB team, and to cut more of the upperclassmen off of the JV team than they had originally expected.

Coach Figueroa said that she came into the new season expecting 35 girls to be trying out and it jumped up to 51.  This meant the coaches had to cut 11 girls from the team.

The Varsity team has 12 girls, JV team has 13 girls and the freshman team has 14.

Sophomores Yazmeen Teles and Vanessa Bernardo were cut but stayed with the team as managers.

The varsity team lost to Frontier Region High School 3-0 at their home opener on Sept. 8. They face Minnechaug High School on Sept. 10.

“We’re looking to get the teams ready with basics and learn to make less errors and to play smart,” says Figueroa.

New coaches, girls, and returning players are hoping to have a strong season and make it into play-offs.