By Kaylie Doherty

I want to say a thank you to the fans who came out to support Rangers volleyball throughout our season.  This season was not only memorable for us as players, but to the Westborough community as well. 

Starting off the playoff the fans knew little about the rules and technicalities about volleyball, but that never stopped them from cheering.  However, after a few games, they had the rule book down pat.  One bad call and our fan section was screaming “touch” while rubbing their hands together like we do on the court.  Or if the other team doubled the ball, the fan section politely announced that no, in fact “you can’t do that.”

In the Fitchburg gym during the state finals, Coach Anderson said, “take a moment to soak this all in, they are all here for you guys.”  And that’s what we did.  We took a moment to look up at our fan section that was filled with family, friends, neighbors, teachers, students, and even players from other teams.  That was the biggest fan section that we had ever seen at any sporting event.  After the game I even found out that it was streamed live and that people from all over were watching the game and cheering us on. 

To see a gathering of fans who supported his team as well as they did is something to be proud of.  Coach Anderson said, “This was the smartest, most positive, and enthusiastic crowed we have seen in a long time.  I was so proud to coach the team they were cheering for.  Outstanding.”  This means a lot coming from a coach. 

My favorite story of the season was hearing that in gym class, students were pretending to be us!  Boys would say, “Okay, okay, I’ll be Gianna, and you Emma who, you know, sets the ball.”  “Oh, oh and I’ll be that one in the other colored shirt!”  Hearing that students imitating us like we were professional basketball players in their gym class really showed us just how involved the community had become in our journey to the state finals. 

Fans make a difference in the game, no doubt.  In the third game of the state finals, when we were down ten, and without the fans support and relentless cheering, we never would have been able to go on that run to bring us back into the game.  We were able to feed of their energy and play to our fullest potential.

Even though the journey ended in a heartbreaking loss, the whole team and coaching staff wants to say thank you.  Mary Bush, a senior on the team told me, “I’ll never be able to express how truly grateful I am to the fans.  One of the hardest moments came right after we lost in the fourth game of the state finals.  I remember looking up into the crowd and thinking everyone would be disappointed, but instead, I saw all of our fans still cheering for us and supporting us even though we lost.  Losing was hard, but knowing that the community had our backs made the moment so much easier.”

To this day we still have fans coming up to us and saying what an amazing game we played.  Some said that the state finals game was their first time seeing a volleyball game.  Also, that it was the most exciting game they had ever seen and they wished they stared to watch volleyball sooner.

I hope this feeling of community and support will continue to shine through for all sports teams and especially for the volleyball team next year.  Thanks again to all of the fans who supported us through our journey.  We never could have accomplished what we accomplished without you.