Suffolk Christian Academy’s volleyball season ended last weekend after being eliminated in a tournament.

Even though the Lady Knights won only one game, there were positives to take from the season. Against Greenbrier Christian Academy last weekend, the Lady Knights lost in the first round of a tournament.

SCA coach Scott Cornette felt the team improved since the beginning of the season. It is easy to look at the wins and losses and not believe so, but Cornette saw other things that had not been done before in school history. SCA won a game, and they also won seven sets during the season, both of which are records.

“This was definitely an improvement over previous years,” Cornette said. “I do not remember the last time having as many sets won or games won this year as we have had this year.”

SCA had seven seniors on the team this year. Cornette believes the returning girls will be hungry for more success next year.

“The girls who are coming back for next year are extremely disappointed with how the season went,” Cornette said. “They wanted to keep playing, and they are definitely looking forward to next year. Our JV team has had some success this year and will move up and take some of the roles on varsity.”

After SCA played their final game of the season last Friday, they decided to head up to Lynchburg the next day. There, they watched the Liberty University women’s volleyball team take on Charleston Southern in a college matchup. Cornette saw it as a wonderful opportunity for the girls to see the game at that level and see how college players play their positions. It sparked a passion for wanting to get better in the offseason and throwing out ideas like participating in volleyball clinics and team camps.

One thing Cornette continues to drive home to his team is the desire to improve. He often tells his team it’s OK to be satisfied with what they have done, but it doesn’t mean that have to stop striving. All in all, he appreciates his team’s effort because he knows they wanted to be better than the record showed this season. Cornette was actually in his first season as a head volleyball coach, so this season was a learning experience for him as well.

“The girls really wanted to be great,” he said. “Along with them improving, I need to improve as well. We all want to look at ways to continue to improve as a team and turning some of our weaknesses into strengths.”