With the end of the 2021 volleyball season, the athletes that play volleyball are now transitioning to basketball. Not only did Makenna Bertsch and Kaitlin Owens have daily practices and games twice a week for volleyball, but they’re also going to have to do it all over again for the basketball season. These athletes are dedicated Holy Family athletes that have helped both sports teams reach the high rounds at tournaments and finish extremely high within Class 4A.

These girls have to focus on the physical aspect of playing two sports with back-to-back seasons, but also the mental aspect of it. When asked how she’s handled the lack of time off, Makenna said, “The schoolwork is definitely more stressful. With already playing a school sport this year I’ve been able to practice my time management skills and make a decent routine.”

It’s no secret that volleyball and basketball are two completely different sports, and the only thing that connects them is the athleticism of the athletes. The skills volleyball teaches you don’t carry over to basketball, allowing the assumption that these girls would be rusty during their basketball season. The actual fact is quite the contrary: they are in even better shape than the other girls. “A lot of the drills we do in basketball are slower than the volleyball ones, there’s just more variety with volleyball drills and things go at a faster pace than they do in basketball, making the change from sport to sport kind of weird but I don’t get as winded as I would if I hadn’t played volleyball,” Bertsch said.

With the semester coming to a close, academics are of the utmost importance. Hats off to these athletes that are balancing their daily practices, after coming off of a volleyball season that had daily practices as well, and also prioritizing their academics. They portray the balance of athletics and academics that Holy Family encourages all student-athletes to follow. They have set the tone for both teams.