Sometimes the difference between a division one and a division two high school volleyball team, is where it all starts. Your freshman year is vital to learn all the skills that you will carry with you throughout the four years that you play. I asked two girls from a division one and division two volleyball team to see what the difference is, or if it is just pure luck.

                Mansfield High School, just a town over from Norton, is in the top three for division one volleyball whereas Norton is average rankings for a division two team. Mansfield is ranked twelfth in the state and six hundred seventy sixth nationally based off of maxpreps.com. The Sun Chronicle stated that “The unbeaten Mansfield High School team continued to roll through the Hockomock league win a 3-1 victory over North Attleboro on Friday.” This is a team that has taken Mansfield eight years to defeat and this year they finally defeated them. Mansfield’s freshman team unanimously agreed that hitting was by far their best skill, while communicating and passing to the setter was a difficulty. Jacey, a freshman at Mansfield High School said they practice, “Everyday unless we have a game.” During practices Mansfield always does the same thing at every practice. They work on defense against a hitter and a serve which is important in volleyball because you need a strong defense to get any offense. They condition the girls a lot because to be a good athlete you need to have a fit body. They say their serves have improved which is crucial for the game to have any success.

                Norton High School’s freshman volleyball team has practices most of the days that they do not have any games. Norton volleyball is ranked seventy-eighth in Massachusetts and 4,452 nationally. Norton is also seventh in the Tri-Valley league based on maxpreps.com. Other than that they have the same amount of practice time as the Mansfield freshman volleyball team. Molly said, “As a team we have improved our hitting and passing because we do so many drills.” Mansfield and Norton basically teach the same skills for the girls but I feel as though you need to take that skill and embrace it. Mansfield girls do a lot of volleyball on their off season unlike most of the Norton girls. The dedicated and hardworking athletes are the difference in a division one and division two team.