Championship teams play their best ball in the postseason when it matters the most. In an interview with the Echo, head volleyball coach, Brian Bowles, reflected on their season so far. “I don’t think our record really reflects how strong of a team we are. We’ve experienced a ton of growth this season from the start to the finish.” With playoffs around the corner, Bowles has his team “peaking” at the right time.

Typically, in sports the goal is to coach a team to win, but Bowles takes a different approach. Winning is still a huge factor in his book, but that is a byproduct of his players’ development. “[Our] main goals are to grow as volleyball players, and to grow as young men. Those are always our primary goals.  For us, the state championship is kind of secondary.” With this mindset, Bowles is preparing kids who are student athletes who carry themselves with class while being competitive. “It’s about improving the person.”

With the team being young, Bowles turns to his senior leadership. The Rocks are led by Lincoln Anderson, Miles McGee, Noah Fichter, and Dillon Geiser. Behind the leadership of this group, Bowles hopes to shift the team’s “I” tendencies towards a “We”. This is a problem in every team sport. “It’s one of the harder things that anyone can learn how to do… And learning that as a group, putting aside the individual and putting the group first, the group can do incredible things.”

With the postseason around the corner, Bowles has one goal for his guys: to compete. “In a couple of weeks, we’ll be at, it’ll be time for the state tournament, it’ll be time for the state championship. I expect us to be competitive.” No one knows the future, so it would be a bold prediction to assume their performance. He also added, “We could run out there and somebody we run into that has the game of their life. We could be the team that has the game of our life. You don’t know. However, I think a wise person understands that the goal in a couple of weeks when we get to that end is to be competitive.” Regardless of the record, Bowles just wants his guys to finish the season strong by competing. The rest will take care of itself.