Mouth of the River

After sweeping their home opener game against Plymouth on Wednesday, September 2nd, the Oyster River High School (ORHS) volleyball team has high hopes for the season ahead. Last year, the team had an undefeated season that led to their victory in the DII New Hampshire state championship. But a majority of the starting lineup responsible for the win has since graduated, and the remaining team is left to fill the gaps.

The team’s main goal is to make it back to the final four and win the championship again, and varsity coach Cassandra Doore says the key to getting there is simply hard work. “Working hard is going to get us to where we want to be on the volleyball court and to hit our goals,” she says.

Varsity team captain Addie Bower (’27) agrees that the championship comes down to hard work and resilience. “It’s definitely just who wants it more and who can push themselves more to get to that finish,” she says.

The team’s motto this year is “nobody cares, work harder,” which means that regardless of what players are dealing with outside the court, they should be ready to put in the work at practice to get the team to where they want to be.

Across the board, the team seems to take this motto to heart. Like many seniors, Sydney Keenum (’27) is stepping into a starting position this season, taking the place of Claire Jorgensen (’26), a graduated right-side hitter. “I’m having to fill her shoes, which is a big responsibility,” Keenum says. Lizzy Lynskey (’30) confirms that Doore has high expectations for her team. “She wants us to live up to those expectations a little bit,” Lynskey says.

The DII championship is anyone’s game, according to Doore, which is why she pushes her team so hard. She says that because there was a lot of turnover this year across the league, “it’s kind of wide open in a way that it hasn’t been in years.”

The girls on the team recognize the open playing field and they are pushing themselves to reach their goals. “We all want to put in the work to be like [the seniors],” Lynskey says, “or maybe even above them.”

Bower believes that the key to a strong season is to build chemistry. She says trust and communication are largely what make a team successful. After losing so many setters and back row players, she feels that the team is rebuilding. In order to build that connection, it’s the responsibility of Bower and the other captains to plan spags and other team events.

As a freshman on varsity, Lynskey already feels a strong connection with her teammates. Her sister, Leah Lynskey (’26), was also a varsity player who graduated last year, so she’s had chances to get to know her teammates even before starting high school, and she says that even this early in the season, the team gets along well.

As a new team, the Bobcats are at a strong starting point for the season. “It’s going to take a lot of work and polishing because we’re still a new team,” Keenum says, but she nevertheless believes that they have the capacity to echo last year’s season and make it to the championships.

Doore agrees that as long as the team continues to work hard, their goals are achievable. “Every week, we’ve got to get a little bit better and not plateau halfway through the season.”

The Bobcats’ next game will be against Laconia on Friday, September 11th at ORHS.

All visuals are courtesy of Liz Keenum.

-Emmy Higginbotham