Halloween can get pretty scary. It is even scarier when your team is stuck in a losing streak. But as ghouls and goblins roam the streets over the weekend, the Utah volleyball team will be trying its best to expel the ghosts that have been following them for the past month.
For the entire month of October, the Utes have gone winless. But in the face of adversity they have stood strong and refuse to be scared by their recent lack of success.
“We aren’t focusing on the losing,” said head coach Beth Launiere. “We are focusing on doing what we need to do to get better. It’s not easy.”
Staying brave in the face of terrifying obstacles is definitely not easy, and this is evident with the players. Freshman Berkeley Oblad knows this.
“It’s definitely hard. It’s frustrating.” Oblad said.
It’s almost like a dedicated trick-or-treater on Halloween night. House after house, he or she only gets a pinch of candy corn or a small piece of hard candy. Nothing good.
Yet they don’t give up. That kid knows if he or she keeps moving forward and doesn’t give up, his dedication will eventually pay off, and he will find the right neighborhood where he is showered with the good stuff — king-sized candy bars.
“If there is anything I’ve learned from being on teams that have faced these challenges, it’s that adversity can only make you stronger,” Oblad said. “I can already see us wanting to work harder and get better. I can feel it.”
Despite Utah’s struggles, Meghan Shughrou, a freshman on the team, loves this time of year. She’s looking forward to celebrating Halloween, even though the Utes have a pair of matches over the weekend.
“My favorite part is the candy and getting to dress up. I love to dress up,” Shughrou said.
Oblad, on the other hand, has a slightly different viewpoint on this spooky holiday.
“I like seeing the creativity people put into costumes,” Oblad said. “It’s fun to dress up and all, but seeing the effort that people put into costumes is really cool. The art and creativity is so much fun.”
Just as it takes a lot of time and energy to create a good costume, it takes a lot of time and energy to put all the pieces of this team together.
“You’ve got to take each week at a time,” Launiere said. “We’ve had a really good week of practices. Lots of meetings and yoga. We’ve had pieces of good things happen, but we haven’t put it together in a long time. That’s our goal — to get everyone playing well at the same time.”
As a party-goer revels in his costume once all the pieces come together perfectly, Launiere will be ecstatic once her team figures out how to be on their game at the same time and play well together. This team is skilled, and once the Utes put it all together, they will be tough to beat.
If anything, Halloween offers a chance for the players to get their minds off of the rut the team has been in recently. At practice on Wednesday, they reminisced about Halloweens past and enjoyed talking about their favorite costumes over the years.
“In third grade, I had a full Pooh-bear costume with all the fur on it. It was really cool,” Shughrou said.
“I was a pirate for four years in a row,” Oblad recalled. “So that was probably my favorite costume.”
And, of course, you can’t forget the candy.
“Reese’s. They are my favorite,” Oblad added.
“My favorite candy is the chewy SweetTarts and Smarties,” Shughrou said with a smile as she recounted her trick-or-treating days.
As the team got together for a Halloween-themed photo, the Utes were all smiles. They got together and could hardly pose for longer than a few seconds as they burst out laughing.
This month has clearly not damaged the team’s chemistry. Utah may have lost the last nine games, but the players have not lost their love for the game, and for each other.
And of course, they haven’t forgotten their love for Halloween candy.
@Twelvegage96