BY DANI TIETZ
dani@sjodaily.com
It’s all about the team for Olivia Sorensen.
Team is why Heritage High School’s senior setter fell in love with volleyball in sixth grade.
At the age of 12, Sorensen stepped onto the court for Heritage Junior High and the Prime Time Volleyball Club.
“You get to interact with new people and its a team sport,” Sorensen said. “Teamwork is a big part in volleyball, it creates how a team plays and how they bond with each other.”
Now in her last prep season, Sorensen is part of a strong Hawks team that has won 24 matches, including three championship trophies, one of which was from the inaugural Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament.
Sorensen said that the group’s success isn’t just luck, though. As the captain of the 2019 squad, Sorensen said that her teammates have been focused since summer.
The Hawks came into the season with two new coaches, head coach Kourtney Bradd and Alex Hudson.
“It was a big change for most girls at the beginning of the year because they had been used to the old coach but this year we have gained two new very good coaches,” she said. “We have switched around some of our players and since we have done that, we’ve improved greatly.”
Joining the newly formed 15-member Lincoln Prairie Conference was also on the players’ minds as they prepared for the season.
“This new conference was filled with multiple talented teams but we have proved we are just as good,” she said.
Defeating Tri-County 25-20, 25-17, a team Heritage has not beaten in 14 years, was also a highlight of the season.
Sorensen said that her role as the setter and the team captain is to lead the team and make sure that she is a role model for her teammates.
“I want to be a leader that someone looks up to and admires,” she said. “I have always encouraged my team to never give up and always keep pushing, I never let them get down about themselves and always tell them to keep their heads up.”
Focusing on hard work in practice and in games is what has sustained the Hawks’ success this season.
“There is so much talent on the team,” she said. “This team has such strong relationships and bonds with each other that it only brings us closer and makes us better as a whole.”
With four regular-season matches remaining, the Hawks have their sights set on winning their regional tournament.
The No. 1 seeded Hawks will kick-off tournament play at 7 p.m. on Oct. 30 against the winner of an Oct. 28 match between No. 7 Windsor Coop and No. 9 Decatur Lutheran.
“We have made it to the regional championship multiple times, but this year we want to win it,” Sorensen said. “We’ve come so far we can’t quit now, but we would definitely like to go farther than regionals.”
The Hawks will be seeking their first regional championship in volleyball since 2013.
Sorensen knows the time she has with this team is now limited.
“I have learned to enjoy it while I can because you will never get to play with the same team again,” she said.
There are a few other life lessons she will take with her after she steps off the court.
“I have learned how to stay tough through difficult times and to always have a positive attitude about everything,” she said. “Even though I may not want to do something I need to push my way through it to keep getting better.”
The Hawks host Decatur-Lutheran tonight, then Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-
