Usually middle school teams have one coach, right?  Well, this year’s 8th grade boys volleyball team has had three coaches in only one month. However, if people watch the team play, they wouldn’t be able to  tell that this is the case. This year’s team has been playing together for four years and has already been through plenty.

The season started out with a brand new coach, Suzanne. Everyone was nervous but excited at the same time to meet her. The first three practices went great for the group, but then Suzanne had to leave the team for personal reasons. Everyone was shocked but understood that this simply happens sometimes in life. The real question was, who’s the coach now?

Luckily the bobcats had the best assistant in the business: Mr. Roloff. Mr. Roloff wasn’t a volleyball genius, in fact, he never played, but he had seen enough to understand how it all worked. The practices were frantic but successful, and eventually the first games came.

The first game was against one of the best teams in the archdiocese, Holy Apostles. St. Robert went into the game with a “nothing to lose” mentality. This game was nerve wracking, but they came out on top during the first match of three. In order to take home a win, the team had to win two of the three games. The Bobcats put up a good fight during the second match, but eventually Holy Apostles won. It came down to game three:, could the Bobcats shock the world, and take back control?.

They didn’t. They lost by a mere 2 points. Though this defeat was sad, the team realized they actually had a shot for the Seton (a premier Catholic volleyball tournament). They went into the second match that night a little down but also proud. The same result happened the second time, against St. Charles of Burlington. They started to realize that they were actually good.

After a good week of practices, Mr. Roloff told the team he found someone to fill in as a permanent coach, his name is Mitch and he went to St. Roberts. Mitch graduated in 2006 and has lived in Milwaukee since. Mitch knows lots about volleyball through coaching experience at Whitefish Bay and Dominican. With Mitch, the boys learned many new skills and also won more games. They even took home the championship at St. Margaret Mary tournament. After about half of a season, the boys got invited to the Seton. The boys got the 7 seed and were #2 in their pool. The team looks forward to a strong Seton run and hopefully a championship.

8th grader and member of the volleyball team, Harry, claims, “I feel like through ups and downs we still can play good.” The team is relieved to finally have a permanent coach: “[It] feels good to have a coach who can understand us and help[s] us with our volleyball skills.” Harry also said, “We can be champions in our hearts,”concerning his confidence with the team going into The Seton. Finally, Harry reflected on what he learned the most in his four years playing volleyball at St. Roberts. He noted, “That if you have some trust, it doesn’t matter that much who your coach is.”

The St. Robert’s boys volleyball team has a wild run, but through it all, they have found a way to win games and have a great time.