Volleyball is a big sport on the campus of Sedona Red Rock Jr./Sr. High School. The high school team is coming off of back-to-back state tournament appearances, the most recent of which was done without a single senior. But while the Scorpions won’t lose much when volleyball season starts in the fall, they do figure to get some big additions.

Those will come from many of the players who were on the junior high school team, which won its district championship without losing a match or even dropping a set. Several players on that team are also playing club volleyball for the highly ranked Sedona Juniors 14U club team.

As of their most recent tournament, the Sedona team is ranked No. 18 out of 92. The team is made up of eighth-graders who began playing with each other as sixth graders. That’s also when Joel Frey became the head coach of the program along with his wife, Kerstin, who serves as an assistant coach. Frey, along with the players on his team, have seen improvements this year.

“It’s going a lot better,” said coach Frey’s daughter, Emily Frey, a player on the team. “We’re ranked pretty high this season. We haven’t been ranked this high before. We’re working as a team a lot more this season. It’s a lot of fun.”

“It’s been better, a lot better than last year,” said her teammate, Makayla Wilcox. “We play a lot better and get along a lot better. We’re ranked a lot higher, so we’re obviously playing better. At tournaments, it gets difficult and we get kind of nervous. But we play through it.”

It would be hard to blame the Sedona players for getting a little nervous at tournaments, as they’re going against much bigger teams — in more ways than one.

Coach Frey joked that sometimes when he sees the height of some of the girls on opposing teams, he has a hard time believing that they’re only 14. Also, many of the teams that Sedona plays against come from bigger cities like Phoenix and Flagstaff.

Those teams not only practice a lot more, but have a far deeper talent pool than Sedona has to pick from. Despite the shortcomings, the Sedona team has found ways to compete well.

“It’s hard sometimes because they’re towering over us,” Emily Frey said. “But we have a lot of skill. We might not be as tall but we know how to compensate for that and do things to take advantage of their height. The other teams have big warehouses. But we practice a lot and have played with each other for three years — most of us — so we’ve got a good connection.”

While the Sedona team doesn’t have any warehouse to practice in, it does have a gym. They are at the auxiliary gym of the Jr./Sr. High School three times a week, a venue they’re very thankful to have.

“We want to thank Denny Dearden and Pedro Ortega for letting us do this,” coach Frey said. “Without their help, this couldn’t happen.”

And while the Sedona team is small in numbers now, there is a hope to expand. Kerstin noted that they are always looking for more volunteer coaches. Also, they hope to not only make the 14U team a little deeper but also make the program big enough to add other age group teams — such as 12U and 16U.

When asked what they most like about the team, the Sedona players consistently said that they enjoy the competition and also the bonding that comes with it. Amy Brefeld, a player on the Sedona team, even added that she enjoys when she and her teammates make mistakes.

“When we always mess up — it happens — we have a way of getting over it and sometimes it’s so funny,” Brefeld said. “It’s so much fun to mess up, which sounds bad, it really does, but that’s one of my favorite parts.”

While mistakes will naturally always happen, they do happen less frequently. Coach Frey lauded the improvements of the girls on the team. Similarly, they spoke highly of their coach.

“He’s really encouraging,” Wilcox said. “He helps us a lot in different areas.”

“I’ve been working with him personally for a while,” Brefeld added. “He’s really helped me become a volleyball player. He likes to watch us all grow into better players. I think that’s good for him. And we like to watch him support us. And he does that a lot.”

Much like the coaches, the girls on the team also hope that the club will grow in the coming years.

And the success of the team is only a small part of what the girls currently on it enjoy and what they hope future players will experience.

“I love the people,” Wilcox said. “They all have their personalities and I love their personalities. And I love the traveling and going out to other places like Phoenix. And having the advantage of playing with other teams that obviously get the same practice, or even more practice. It helps us get better and it’s also really fun.”

Anyone interested in learning more about the Seodna Juniors volleyball program should contact Joel Frey at his email address: freyjoel@yahoo.com.