After an entire summer of practices and skills work, girls’ volleyball hopes to have an experienced team ready for the upcoming fall season.

Most of the girls’ motivation comes from their previous record. According to junior captain Amra Mucic, the past season was tough on the team.

“Last year could have gone better, but we didn’t have great team chemistry,” Mucic said.

In hopes of improving last year’s 4-21 record, coach Mark Nelson said he tried to use his own ways of coaching during the summer to prepare the girls for the upcoming season.

“Our team is very young. I’ve been the only coach they’ve known, so I’ve been trying to teach them my style of play and implement my own coaching system,” Nelson said.

Although the team lost six seniors from the previous year, senior captain Holly Westwood said she believes the young players can make up for the loss.

“A lot of us have played together for a while so we [work] well together and motivate each other,” Westwood said.

Unlike Westwood, Nelson said he thinks the team’s age will prove a challenge.

“Because [the girls] are young, they have less experience and so it’s tough having young players play at a top level,” he said.

Nelson said he is looking forward to work with all of the new girls in the upcoming season.

“This year will have a much more competitive environment and I’m excited to have the girls compete for spots instead of handing them the spots,” Nelson said.

The girls’ first game was away on Aug. 20 against South St. Paul. The end score was 0-3, with Park losing. The team had its first home game Aug. 27 versus St. Paul Como. Park also lost this game, 0-3.

While they also lost their second game, Mucic said she thought the team played better than the first game.

“In the second game we were louder and more into the game itself,” she said. “I also think we were more prepared to play.”

Westwood said after the first two games, the team knew it needed to focus more on their energy and its way of thinking.

“Our team’s energy needs a boost and we need to have a more positive attitude,” Westwood said.