SPRING HILL, Fla. - If you had to sum up the Bishop McLaughlin volleyball team in one word
This might do it.

‘We’re just family,” senior Adriana Lopez said.

And the family that stays together wins together.

“Every single year, we’ve come closer and closer, doing better.,” Lopez said. “I just love them all.”

That bond has grown over time. And it’s helped the Hurricanes become one of the top teams in the state.

“Our kids just love to play,” Hurricanes head coach Doug Chinchar said. “So, we’re ready. We’re ready to go.”

Two years ago, Bishop McLaughlin made a run to the Class 3A state championship game. They lost, but gained an appreciation for the journey and what it will take to win it all.

“We were on a good roll that year,” Chinchar said. “We just had a bad day.”

Senior Audrey Koenig remembers that day. And it’s fueled her ever since. This season she joined a prestigious club, the 1,000 kill club. But that milestone would pale in comparison to making history at Bishop McLaughlin.

“The trophy’s just something to cap off all four years,” Koenig said. “It would just be amazing. It would be the first state championship for our school.”

“If we did take home the state championship this year, it would make everything else OK or a little bit better,” Lopez said. “It’s something that would be awesome and so special.

2020 has redefined unpredictable. But the one constant, Bishop McLaughlin’s volleyball team. So why not winning their first title this year?

“We have been focused on this,” Lopez said. “This is eye on the prize, so no matter what’s happening, especially with Covid, we’ve just been super focused in. We’re just eye on the prize.”