The South Forsyth Varsity Volleyball team worked hard this year with new protocols in place. With COVID-19 as a serious alternating factor, the girls played to the best of their abilities while practicing proper safety guidelines. Unfortunately, South lost by just one point against Forsyth Central on October 13th, 2020. The final score was 3 to 2. Despite this loss, the team was still able to crush other competitions throughout the season.

On September 29th, 2020 the South Forsyth Varsity Volleyball team got a chance to redeem themselves against Forsyth Central. South won  3 matches while Central did not win any. They were also triumphant against North Forsyth with ending scores of 2 to 0 on September 26th, 2020. These wins, plus many others this season, are evidence of not only the capabilities of South’s Volleyball team but also their bond and great teamwork skills. Even now with new protocols regarding COVID-19, the SFHS volleyball team was able to take the lead in many of their competitions. In the video below, the South Forsyth Varsity volleyball team defeated Denmark on September 10th, 2020.

In order to prepare for a successful season, they began training early on in the summer.

Volleyball coach, Ms. Legall said, “We started our first conditioning sessions in July after the week of July 4th. At that point, the Georgia High School Association allowed us to start training with our COVID rules.” Ms. Legall went on to explain the precautions taken, “Players were spaced out and always sanitized. We were able to start conditioning practices at that point and then tryouts were on August first. We practiced here at South in the Blue Gym.”

With a pandemic at hand, these precautions were necessary. Ms. Legall also mentioned that students’ temperatures were taken every day before their practices and matches. All measures taken were necessary and altered how things were done. Ms. Legall said that the biggest change for the players was where their conditioning took place.

“We weren’t using the weight room,” She stated, “We were sanitizing hands and wearing masks. Those were changes we had to adjust to. Sanitation guidelines were followed when cleaning the floor, nets, and balls.”

COVID-19 also changed the way games were played. Usually, players would switch sides of the court between matches, but in order to reduce contact, both teams remained on one side of the court throughout the whole game.

Ms. Legall continued to elaborate on alterations for volleyball, “We had a tournament at Sequoyah High School. It was a bit of a modified tournament than what we usually have because the tournament was smaller in scale.” Crowds had been reduced and scheduled were altered so that games could be played in a safe manner. On August 15th, 2020 South lost to Sequoyah by two points but they still had a great time getting to play despite the circumstances.

Another change made had to do with one of the team’s most important tournaments. “We actually had to cancel our biggest event here because the tournament that we usually have has approximately 28 teams come to compete,” Ms. Legall stated. “With COVID we were not able to hold an event with such a large group.” While these modifications were unfortunate, they were imperative for maintaining the health of the players, other students, parents, and teachers.

With these changes, the SFHS Volleyball team had to work hard and do their absolute best while still having a good time. At the end of the season, it was determined that the South Forsyth Varsity Volleyball team’s national rank moved up by 86 teams and their state rank rose by two. South is proud of our volleyball players and the great determination they showed throughout this season by facing all obstacles head-on.