LAKEVILLE – While the outcome of a Friday, Sept. 14 varsity volleyball game between Middleboro High School and Apponequet Regional High School ended with a 3-1 win for the Lakers, both teams have a lot in common at the start of this season.

Both teams have skills and strategies they need to work on to ensure a strong season, explained Middleboro Coach Alicia Laine and Apponequet Coach Megan Giammalvo – the specifics just look a little different for each group.

“I think we have a lot to work on,” said Giammalvo, but added that her players “are a talented team … and we practice hard every day and we look at one game at a time.”

Giammalvo said her team is focusing on “strengthening our defense, moving the ball around and … on our different offenses.”

Laine, who is coaching girls varsity volleyball for the first time this year, said she wants to see her younger players focus on “getting the confidence to really go for it.”

“They see a senior next to them and assume they are going to do the work, when it’s their ball and they need to be doing the work,” she said.

According to Laine, she wants her older players to focus on their aggression on the court.

“They’re hitting, they’re swinging, but they could do it harder and faster,” she said. “They’re focus lately has been hitting to kill.”

But despite Friday’s loss to Apponequet, Laine is “really proud of the game that we won. I do think that when we see them again at the end of the season … their chances are much slimmer.”

While both teams are focusing on different on-the-court skills, they have a similar philosophy when it comes to sportsmanship and the soft skills that will follow them into their lives off the court.

“We praise good sportsmanship and being a community,” said Giammalvo. She added that she hopes her players become “leaders” and pick people up.

“It’s easy to celebrate when people are doing things good,” she said. “But picking people up when they’ve made an error” is harder.

In Middleboro, Laine focuses on “respect: Respect for players, respect for refs, respect for the opponent.”