Tonight’s history-making game against Dubuque Senior gives this year’s varsity volleyball squad the distinction of being the first in school history to win an outright conference championship.

Although the team won in three sets, they struggled at points during the match, and trailed behind for much of the third set.

“We didn’t perform like we should,” head coach Michelle Goodall said. “It was a new lineup in the third set, and it’s not as slick as the other lineups…but I’m still happy.”

Be that as it may, the team did play as well as they needed to to win, and after set three there were smiles all around as the girls celebrated their victory.

“It’s just crazy,” Emma Boote, jr., said.

The team may have been behind for a while, but they were always in control, Boote said.

“I feel like we just had the drive to do it,” Boote said. “We know we’re good enough…we just kind of were lagging the whole time, but it was fine. We knew we were in control the whole time, we just have to make a dramatic exit sometimes.”

So what allowed this team to accomplish something that the 48 previous teams couldn’t?

“I think that we all are so close, and that helps us on the court,” Anna Fluent, sr., said. “Communication is way better, and we play as a team and not for ourselves.”

“We have pretty good chemistry,” Paige Franck, jr., said. “We all get along together, so that really makes a difference.”

The girls’ next goal is playing well at state.

“Our goal is to obviously make it to state, then compete at state, and possibly a state championship,” Fluent said. “I think we can do that.”