Three seniors, Shelby H., Meg M., and Avery W.  recently finished their final volleyball season as Pandas. They are dedicated players who have played volleyball since grade school and continued playing all through high school. While juggling school, work, and volleyball obligations, these girls made playing volleyball at Padua look easy.

Shelby started playing volleyball when she was in sixth grade. When she was just a freshman, she made Padua’s varsity volleyball team. Now, Shelby is an outside hitter and she occasionally plays back-row. Her favorite memory was when she got a pancake, which is a flat-handed pass, in a game against Archmere Academy during her freshman year. During her junior year, she played her best game against Ursuline Academy. Balancing schoolwork and volleyball was easy for Shelby and has helped keep her focused. Like most athletes, she gets nervous before every game; but, since starting volleyball in sixth grade, Shelby has improved a great deal. She is very sad to be finished playing for Padua, but she is still deciding whether or not she will continue to play volleyball in college.

Meg started playing volleyball when she was in fourth grade. Like Shelby, she also made Padua’s varsity volleyball team as a freshman, and she is currently the libero, which is a defensive specialist position. She enjoys going to practice simply because she loves her teammates. When Meg was a junior, she had her best game when Padua beat St. Mark’s at St. Mark’s home court. A favorite memory of Meg’s occured during a tournament when she bumped the ball, and it knocked out a ceiling tile. Meg always feels anxious and nervous before a game because she is ready to play. For her, balancing schoolwork and volleyball is hard at times, and she does not have a lot of free time. Regardless, Meg wants to continue playing volleyball in college and is still deciding between West Chester University and Wesley College.

Avery started playing volleyball when she was in fourth grade. During her freshman and sophomore years, she played for Padua’s Junior Varsity team. Since she started volleyball, Avery said that she has improved immensely. She played her best game during her sophomore year, when the team played St. Mark’s. Practice is very enjoyable for Avery, but when she is tired or stressed it can be hard. She is very sad that it is her last year playing volleyball in a Padua uniform, but Avery said that the experience of being a Padua volleyball player is irreplaceable. She is planning to attend a Division I University, therefore Avery is still deciding on whether or not she wants to continue volleyball.

Coach Payne will definitely miss the seniors for their inside jokes, team spirit, unselfishness, and the way they worked together as a team. These three seniors have left an impact and Coach Payne said that the seniors have also “left an impression for younger kids to want to aspire to be like them.” As the volleyball season came to a close, there were certainly plenty of tears, but the legacy created by these seniors will live on.