Windham learns from comeback against Milford

MILFORD – The Windham High School girls volleyball team is coming into its own this season.

Everyone has realized it but the Jaguars.

In its second season as a varsity team, and third overall, Windham is off to a 3-1 start in Division II, following a 3-1 win over Milford on Monday and a 3-0 loss to St. Thomas on Wednesday.

Even though the Jaguars have a few wins on the year, coach Jill Bartlet still sees her team get off to slow starts. Against Milford, Windham dropped the first game of the match and fell behind early in the other three before rallying to win each.

“I still feel like they get the first-game jitters, no matter how many games we play,” she said. “It was great that they still played aggressive when they needed to and came together as a team. They’re constant support of each other is really what makes it critical.”

This is the first season the Jaguars have had seniors on their roster, and Bartlet believes that at times, the players still think of themselves as the younger team that they were in the first two years.

“I think they see themselves as gawky and awkward,” Bartlet said. “(The other teams) were always older than us and more developed than us. I don’t think they see themselves as the strong athletes that they’ve become. They truly are. They’re a force to be reckoned with. If they could be what everybody else sees, they’d snap into it.”

Milford coach Chuck Roberson knows the Jaguars are such a team.

“All those kids are already playing Junior Olympics,” he said. “They were going to Salem. They’re going to be a team to reckon with.”

Team identity

The Spartans have an interesting mix this year – the team consists of eight juniors and four freshmen – and they’re still trying to figure out how to play together.

“We haven’t meshed as a team yet,” Roberson said. “We’ve meshed as people, but not as a team. They get along and all that stuff, but they don’t really know enough about each other because they’re all so new.”

Despite that, Milford is still expecting big things from the season.

“I think we have the potential, but there are certain things to figure,” Roberson said. “It’s mostly explaining leadership on the court. We need kids we aren’t afraid to make plays. I think that sometimes, the juniors have to be leaders. Not just the captains. They have to be the person who wants to make the play.”

The Spartans get another shot at the Jaguars right away – the two teams meet again on Monday, this time in Windham.