Jack Janes is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism graduate student assigned to cover Chandler for AZPreps365.com

With four games left in the season, Chandler’s girls volleyball team sits at 0-13 overall and 0-5 in region play, but you would not guess that by watching the players’ demeanor on the court.

Despite the challenging season, the Wolves continue to play every game with an abundance of energy. Players are smiling and appear to have the chemistry of a team that is set for the playoffs. 

“We really want to be there,” junior outside hitter Isabella Montoya said. “We really enjoy the game and we love pushing each other and love seeing each other get down and fight for balls and put our whole heart out there. It just makes it fun, pushing each other to be better.”

Being on a winless team presents numerous challenges, but one of the main issues is maintaining a good relationship with teammates. Losing often brings out frustration and that can cause tension in the locker room, but the Wolves have stayed clear of these issues.

“We just have this grit of let's just keep going, let's keep fighting and then this never-say-die kind of attitude,” coach Tracey Rodarte said. “They're just good kids. They're good characters and they're go-getters.”

Other than just being good kids, one reason the Wolves have great team chemistry is because they are very close off the court as well. Senior libero Bryn Aguano said the team hangs out together often outside of volleyball, whether it be having the same classes together, going to football games or hanging out outside of a school setting in general. 

One thing that the Wolves do to spend time together is having team dinners. Once a week, the team will meet at a player’s house and they all have dinner together and sit around to talk to each other about anything. Every week the dinner is hosted at a different player’s house and they have different food every week. 

“We just hang out, we talk,” Montoya said. “We'll all be sitting close to each other and talk about the future and other things going on at school, in our lives, what we're looking forward to. We're a super open and honest team and we just connect like that.”

The weekly dinners and other bonding that happens outside of volleyball have all been player-driven. The Wolves have two captains, Aguano and senior outside hitter Ashley Fratantoro, but the Wolves’ leadership is not limited to just them, it's a team effort.

“As a unit, they all found their own little leadership role,” Rodarte said. “There's not one specific person that's the leader per se, but it's more like everybody has their job, and everybody has a role and everybody's kind of helping with that leadership role.”

In a season as challenging as this one is for the Wolves, they need as many players as possible to step up and be leaders because the losses can take a toll on everyone. 

“Even when we're down, we can't be down,” Aguano said. “We have to lift everyone up, including ourselves. We can't just give up, we just have to keep doing what we're doing.”

Although their record may not show it, the Wolves players are learning throughout this process and are growing as players and people as a result of it. Rodarte said that she has seen tremendous growth from her players this season because the losing has built character in her players.

Rodarte also said it is hard to have a losing record and to still go hard in every practice and game with the end result not being what you want, but that is the character that is being built because it is forcing the players to be better.

“They're doing a great job at everything I ask them to do,” Rodarte said. “They continue to strive at everything I ask them to do, so that's all I can ask for.”

The Wolves won one game in tournament play this season, but tournament play does not count towards their official record. They have four more opportunities to get that elusive first official win, with only one more home game on the schedule, which is Senior Night at 6 p.m. Thursday against Basha.