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By Ayanna Eckblad

Alden-Conger High School is making a name for itself this volleyball season.

The school’s girls volleyball team has played an undefeated season thus far and earned the ranking of eighth in the state. The team plans to give their all and continue making their community proud.

The team’s coach, Jolene Bute, said she is happy with where the team is at right now.

“I’ve never had a team that’s ever worked as hard as they do, and their dedication is second to none,” she said.

Bute credits the successful season to the team’s dedication and focus, increased training schedule, talented team captains and immense community support.

“We have so much fun and our fans have so much fun,” Bute said. “We’ve had a couple say that when they watch us play, that they feel like we’re on a mission, and I feel like that also is a good analogy of our team.”

Seniors Ashley Newman and Madison Hendrickson are team captains for all of Alden-Conger’s high school volleyball teams. Hendrickson recently hit the achievement of 2,000 assists.

“They’ve got a huge role, and I think both of them do an outstanding job at it. They have great communication,” Bute said.

Right now, the Alden-Conger team consists of both older and younger students with neither age group having a significant quantity over the other.

“I feel like some of us have experience, and then we have some that don’t, so it’s kind of like we have to help them through that and always be there for them,” Hendrickson said.

Both captains are passionate about the sport, and they’re willing to put in the work to make the team the best it can be.

“I like to be on the court,” Newman said. “That’s what I look forward to every day, so it makes it really easy to want to be at practice and want to work hard.”

Newman also explained volleyball is one of the biggest parts of her life, and she would like to play in college.

Hendrickson said she is good friends with all of her teammates, and that closeness shows, giving the team an edge during competitions.

The Alden-Conger High School volleyball team plans to continue pushing forward and pursuing a successful rest of the season. They would like to win the conference and go further in the playoffs than they have in previous years, Bute said.

“Ranking is great, but also it’s not something that we dwell on,” she said. “Every day we work on a goal. For the most part, we always want to be better the next day than we were the day before.”

Newman said she is excited to continue the season and encourages her fellow volleyball players to remember why they love the sport.

“Even when you have a tough day at practice, it’s supposed to be fun,” she said.

The Alden-Conger High School girls’ volleyball team will play against Bethlehem Academy Tuesday. Thursday will be a home game in which they play against their conference rival, Cleveland.