Miami Palmetto Senior High is proud to kick off its fall sports for the 2024-25 season. A wide variety of varsity sports are offered at MPSH during the fall, including football, girl’s volleyball, cross country, swimming, golf and bowling.
The girl’s varsity volleyball team is off to a great start, recently participating in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Gainesville, Fla., from Aug. 30 -31.
“We went 4-2, which is pretty good and we left on a positive note,” sophomore and varsity middle blocker Olivia Rodier said.
Rodier focuses on enhancing her offensive hitting and defensive blocking skills this season, with the goal of reaching the State Finals. Additionally, she is eager to create close connections with her teammates and committed to doing everything she can to help the team secure more victories.
Apart from volleyball, MPSH’s Varsity swim team has also been extremely productive. With back-to-back swim meets, they have been working hard to stay motivated and maintain a strong mindset.
“Personally, I like practicing discipline over motivation. Everyone has their good days and bad days, but mindset is everything. I think everyone on our team needs to work on discipline and that’s something I really hope that everyone will understand,” junior and swim team captain Isabella Bartoli said.
As the captain for her second year, Bartoli aims to represent the team well and to be an effective role model for some of the new and incoming swimmers. She wants the best for her team and looks forward to the future.
“This year since I am captain again, I want everyone to feel like it was all worth it. Going to practices, warmups and all of the adjustments they had to make, I want them to feel like it was worth it in the end,” Bartoli said.
It is not just the team putting in the effort; MPSH English III teacher, Creative Writing teacher and varsity swim coach, Laken Darst, is dedicated to improving the swimmers and is optimistic about their progress. Last year marked her debut as the swim coach, and the team was relatively small.
“This year, our team is so much bigger. We have 33 people on the team, and it’s been great so far,” Darst said. “We did really well last year and this year we are gearing up to be even better than before.”
The MPSH fall sports teams are in full swing and thriving, with high hopes of continuing to deliver and bring home trophies. The athletes’ hard work is evident, as each one of them are dedicated to their performances and have shown exceptional talent.
