To start up the season, Mill Valley volleyball hosted its first outdoor volleyball game against Piper on the soccer field Sept. 2. Mill Valley won the match in three sets with scores of 25-8, 25-10, and 25-14.
According to coach Kylie Corneliusen, some parents of players came up with the idea.
“A couple of the players’ parents [Eric Danielson and Scott Ziebell] came forward in May and asked if this would be possible,” Corneliusen said. “After that, we put in a lot of time researching and logistically figuring out how it would work and if it was even possible.”
The players were enthusiastic about the idea. Junior Skylar Kluck explains her reaction to the outdoor game.
“I was really excited because I’ve always seen it on TikTok and I wanted to play in one,” Kluck said.
Corneliusen shares why the event was created.
“The event was just to do something different that nobody has ever done before,” Corneliusen said. “We wanted to create something that would have a big turnout and would help promote volleyball, women’s sports, and Mill Valley teams in the area.”
The game was a historical event for Mill Valley, senior Haedyn Lynn shares how it felt in the moment.
“It was just a surreal moment, especially with all the students that showed up. It just made everything a lot of fun,” Lynn said.
The game itself was more difficult for the players due to the new environment. Junior Riley Riggs explains some of the differences in playing outdoors.
“We played to the best of our ability. Obviously, depth perception is so different when you’re outside, but everyone adjusted pretty well. We also tried to really pick up the communication,” Riggs said.
Corneliusen hopes to make the game a new tradition.
“We all want to keep doing this every year,” Corneliusen said. “We’ve already had a ton of other schools reach out and be like, ‘How are you doing this?’ and ‘We want in on it’, so it’s definitely something we want to keep developing and continue to push for in the future.”
