The chances of seeing them at a construction site or mining tunnel is very unlikely, but for Cabrini’s volleyball team, their hard hats are well deserved.
With winning their fourth straight CSAC championship they had a lot to overcome. They started off the season with an eight-game losing streak, but they did not let it define their season. They were able to bounce back strong, finding themselves undefeated at home and also undefeated in their respected conference to end the season. Junior middle blocker Kaylee Plisinski spoke about the journey to the CSAC championship.
“It was filled with speed bumps with eight girls getting injured this year we had to rebuild and work hard everyday in practice and in games. We went up against many hard teams but our hard work payed off,” Plisinski said.
The experience they gained throughout the season was significant for the young team, who only had one returning senior in outside hitter Kelly Guarino.
Eric Schaefer, head coach of the volleyball team, worked with them day in and day out to get them to play to their full capabilities. Coach Schaefer decided to reward the team with a championship hat that was different from common sports memorabilia. Instead of traditional caps, coach Schaefer went with hard-hats, which he elaborated on the meaning behind.
“I got the team hard-hats because of all of the hard work that the team put in to make it to the championship game. The team had lost four starters from last year’s team and there were many players learning new positions. It was a lot of extra hours and a lot of dedication to achieve our goals.”
“The hard hats were to symbolize all the hard work that we put in this year, junior middle blocker Chelsea Jones said, “It also symbolizes the reconstruction of our team, we expected a couple more girls on the team who decided not to return so we all had to adjust and work through it. We had to go through many speed bumps to get to where we have gotten too but the end result was worth the ride.”
The hard-hats can now serve as reminders, taking them back to all the hard work that went into them winning the CSAC championship. Even through all of the obstacles the team fought hard and together, not letting any of the circumstances serve as an excuse as to why they couldn’t be champions.
“We fought all year and kept working hard no matter how bad we started the season we kept a positive attitude and it payed off,” Plisinski said.
