“When I ace someone, it’s very rewarding because, in volleyball, there are not a lot of individual achievements due to it being a team sport,” said Olive Curdt, a freshman at Brentwood. Not only did Curdt make BHS’s varsity team her freshman year, she received the second-team all-conference award.

While Curdt is known as one of the best all-around players in the school, her most intriguing skill is her jump serve which resulted in many aces throughout her freshman season. Learning how to serve overhand is a skill that can take a while to learn. “It probably took me around like a month to really get it down,” Curdt said. “But that was with practicing every day for hours.”

To do a serve that leaves teams remembering how many aces it cost them, Curdt starts by taking the ball and holding it in her left hand. She tosses it up before stepping one foot forward and beginning her serve approach. This process helps her to hit the ball hard and fast across the court. A serve like this is very rewarding because, according to Curdt, “It’s something only you can control, and you get celebrated for it.” Volleyball is a team-reliant sport because of how much it depends on the members of a team to work together. So, to be able to shake up the confidence of a whole team with just one serve is an accomplishment that should never go unnoticed.

Curdt credits her impressive skills to her club team coaches, stating that they played a key part in influencing her not to give up, and their harsh coaching has helped her to stay dedicated to volleyball. She has been playing club volleyball for the past four years. But also her improvement happened because she has put in the time — constantly doing more and more reps to better her skill.