SYCAMORE – Sycamore volleyball captains Ratasha Garbes, Hannah Knox and Christina Dailey gathered their teammates two weeks ago after the Spartans lost to Marion Central Catholic in straight sets.

The Spartans lacked focus and didn’t communicate throughout the match, problems that pervaded their young team last season. This year, those mistakes wouldn’t be acceptable for a team loaded with seniors, so Garbes, Knox and Dailey told their team that they were having an optional practice that night when they arrived in Sycamore.

“This isn’t where we wanted to be,” Dailey remembered telling her teammates. “We’ve worked so hard to be in this spot, and we need to keep working, we need to improve.”