Girls volleyball flew through their season with a 11-4 record, continuing to push themselves to do better. 

Courier reporter Peyton Elmore chatted with sophomore Mallory Billett, who plays middle back,  is ranked in the top two in the York Area II Volleyball Conference, is in the top 21 in PIAA District III and has a hitting percentage of .765 as of 2025-26 (the national average is 0.84). 

Elmore: What are the team’s goals for the season?

Billett: I think [the season has] been really good. We’re 11-3, and I think that we are playing as hard as we can. There are definitely some times where we dig ourselves in holes, but then we eventually find our way to come out of it, so I think we’re doing pretty good.

Elmore: What are some struggles so far with the team?

Billett: Definitely playing hard teams. Definitely, like York Suburban, and Spring Grove. They’re pretty tough skill wise, but I think we do a pretty good job at staying at their level. I would definitely say between sets, like I said, we dig ourselves in these holes, and then it takes a few points to get out of it, and I just think it’s a bit difficult to deal with, especially when we know we can do it ten times better than what we were doing.

Elmore:  What are some goals you have for the end of the season?

Billett: …to obviously make it into the post season, win, playoffs, and go to districts/counties, stuff like that, make it far in the postseason. A time I’ve had a challenge during a match I would say probably recently at our game versus York Suburban. …we won our first two sets and then we kind of dug a hole, which was kind of hard to get out of, but we eventually found our spark and came back with a really, really close like set, but we did lose but overall, I think personally or like as a team, I think that it was a win, even if it doesn’t count in the conference.”

Elmore: What are important skills for success in volleyball?

Billett: Definitely probably teamwork and communication and letting mistakes go. Volleyball is a game of mistakes. You are going to be making mistakes, so I’d just say, not letting that tear you down everything single time you play, and just being a good communicator as well because that’s really important, so you know whose ball is whose and what’s going to happen on the court. How I communicate with my team on the court during high pressure situations is… loud…even if that means coming to school the next morning with little to no voice. …Being clear, taking our time in our huddles, taking like a minute to just have everyone take a deep breath, and reset our communication.

Elmore: What are some of the techniques you use to keep a positive mindset when the team is down?

Billett: I try to just say this a lot, bring the energy, cause volleyball is a sport where you really need that energy, especially when you get down. …being hype, just like…you want to be there having fun.

Elmore: What are some strategies you use for memorizing and teaching the team new plays?

Billett: Probably going over them, like so our coach will give them, or she’ll come up with them, and then we’ll go over them in practice normally like the first two practices or three practices of the season, we go and memorize rotations, but it’s just so we get that. We know it’s boring, but we just have to have that play. And sometimes, we’ll be running, we’ll be learning how to run different plays in practice along with coming up with code names for them.

Elmore: How do you stay focused under pressure during a crucial match?

Billett: Probably not looking at the score. That’s a big one, and taking a deep breath really helps.

Elmore:  What is your favorite part about volleyball?

Billett: Probably the relationships that I’ve gotten from the sport, ‘cause some of my bestest friends are from that sport.  So that, and definitely the adrenaline rush.