At their last regular season home game, Senior Night, the girls’ volleyball team celebrated their six graduating seniors. Despite the heartbreaking loss in 5 sets, the girls made sure to make the seniors’ last home game special, in order to fully celebrate their success throughout their high school volleyball experience.
Despite being out due to an ACL injury junior year, Mai Nguyen supported the team throughout her volleyball career. She stayed as the team’s manager while healing, and returned strong as ever as a player for her last year with the Mustangs. Nguyen is the Mustang’s starting setter, and was an essential part of the team’s success this year. “My favorite thing about playing with Meridian is the family atmosphere. I always felt really supported, and I knew that we all trusted each other,” Ngyuen explained.
Linnea Chapman played both back row defense as a junior and outside (offense) as a senior. Chapman was an excellent and versatile player, able to play many positions. She scored with powerful, well-placed hits, and dug up the opponent’s tough serves. “My favorite memory is Dig Pink this year, and the Alexandria City Tournament in 2024. I love my girls, and I’m going to miss practices and games with them,” Chapman described. Her skills and positive attitude will truly be missed by the whole team.
Gracie Nowlin will be missed for both her calm attitude and her fierce plays. Nowlin played on both the front and back row, and took turns playing all three front row offensive positions: outside, middle, and right side. She was able to bounce the ball no matter the position she played, making her an important all-rounder to the team. “The things that I will miss the most are the late night bus rides with the team, and dancing to ‘Fefe’ before games to get us hyped up,” Nowlin said.
As a critical backrow player, Camila Paredes Rios played both as a Defensive Specialist (DS) and as a Libero. “My favorite thing about Mustang volleyball is the bench cheering, we always cheer no matter what. Even if you make a mistake, we will always cheer you on and be there to support you,” Rios remarked. She is well known for cheering for everyone on the team, especially with her iconic ‘BOOM goes the dynamite,’ kill cheer. Rios’ never-fading smile and bright attitude will be sorely missed by all her teammates.
Despite this being her first and only year with Meridian volleyball, Crysta Rice made a significant impact on the team. She played as a Middle Blocker, and even a finger injury near the end of the season couldn’t stop her: Rice still played with only one hand blocking, and was able to deny the opponents a clean kill. Rice’s favorite memory was the tournament she played in this year.“It was great because even though it was a varsity tournament, we had our JV team playing there too, and we were able to play all day, hang out… It was great!” Rice commented. The Meridian team did excellent at that tournament, placing 2nd overall. In spite of her short playing time with the volleyball team, Rice’s amazing blocking skills will be remembered long after her graduation.
Dylan Bryan, the Mustangs’ manager, has been with the team since her junior year, before which she also played as a player on JV. Bryan does all the paperwork for games, including the libero tracking, and score keeping. Her favorite memory is taking photos at games.My sophomore year I would take photos with my friend Evi during away games, and we created a whole album of it,” Bryan recalled. Despite not being a player, Bryan was an essential part of keeping the volleyball team organized, and her managing prowess will be missed next fall.
Shout out to all the Mustang volleyball seniors on an amazing final season!
