In response to strong student interest, Friends Select launched a new upper school girls’ volleyball team for the fall 2025-26 season.
When Bill Klose, Director of Athletics, sent a survey at the end of the last school year exploring the possibility of a volleyball team, students expressed interest in the idea. According to Bill Klose, “Our participation numbers for girls’ sports in the fall were high, especially tennis. Volleyball is a popular sport for girls in the fall, so I looked into it. Five other schools in our league have a volleyball team, so when we added one too, it became a league sport, which means we’ll have tournaments and an all-league team.”
Avina Widyono, the volleyball coach, came to Friends Select ready to lead the team despite having concerns at first. “It was a bit of a hurdle at first. I had a bit of anxiety not knowing whether I’d be a good enough coach, taking my experiences from college and the adult rec league. She said, “On day one, I realized it was going to be completely different because of the different demographics of people and how each individual player responded to the advice and the general flow of practice.”.
When asked about her values when coaching, Coach Vee responded, “I highly value effort because I recognize that everyone is coming from different backgrounds—some of us have played volleyball before, some of us have never touched a volleyball. It’s so important for me to be like, ‘they were much better than yesterday, I see that they’re making that effort.”
Team members expressed their enthusiasm for the sport while adjusting to the different athletic skills required for volleyball. Amaya Tempro ‘26 said, “I wanted to join the volleyball team due to wanting to try something new, alongside getting to be with my friends while I do.” There are mixed feelings regarding upcoming scrimmages against other teams. “I am excited but simultaneously anxious for games because I want to represent our school well,” Amaya says.
Other members also showed their excitement when asked about their participation in the sport. “I am excited for the games,” said Sophia Hargrove ‘26, “My goals for the team are to have fun and get better.”
As a former Quaker school student, Coach Vee keeps the SPICES in mind while coaching. “I went to Germantown Friends School, I went to Earlham College, both of which are Quaker schools, so I’ve had the SPICES in the back of my mind this whole time. I value equity more in the sense that I don’t want there to be some weird power dynamic—I want it to be that we’re all working together to make ourselves the best volleyball team we can be.”
