The Hermantown volleyball team is having quite the season.

Sitting at 13-1 after a non conference tournament loss this past weekend has the Hawks feeling pretty good.

They also feel pretty good on non-game days though, with the help of a new practice routine.

“We have team dinners every Wednesday provided by our parents and that’s been a tradition forever and ever,” shared Jessica Williams, the head coach of Hermantown volleyball. We do fun Fridays so we don’t actually practice a lot on Fridays. Just last Friday was homecoming and so we tailgated with all the other sports teams and then the Friday before that we got with the girls soccer team and we did kind of an ‘Amazing Race’ challenge relay.”

“This year we started really doing mindfulness Monday, so every Monday we sit down and as captains we kind of just do a lesson, volleyball related and not volleyball related, but last week we talked a lot about confidence. Being confident on the court, being confident in your teammates and yeah, mindfulness Monday has been a really big part of our practices,” said Claire Kaups, a senior captain.

Mindfulness Monday, family dinners on Friday, and more throughout the week have taken the Hawks minds off playing volleyball. None of it could be done without leadership of their captains though.

“Off the court, we make sure everyone is doing good in school, we make sure everyone is having fun at practice, we just want to be the best leaders possible and make sure everyone’s doing okay” said Kaups.

“It’s so fun, all the girls love it, we all love each other, and we have a great connection,” said senior captain Gabriella Arntson. “Coach Williams has been really focusing on getting us physically and mentally prepared for all of our games and we all just have a great time at practice, games, tournaments, all of it.”

With just three returning varsity players, the Hawks have put the pieces together and are considered one of the heavyweights of volleyball up north.

Coach Williams continues to be a supporter of the Hawks experience, no matter if it’s committing to their on the court play, or the attitude off of it.

“They’re dedicated. They try so hard at every little thing. They make improvements and then we do it in a game and I can’t ask for anything better.”