If you were asked to join a varsity team in a sport you’ve never played before, would you do it? While this situation isn’t very common, it recently happened to a junior at Tower Hill. Meet Tessa Mullins, a 16 year old who recently started her first year of varsity volleyball despite never playing the sport before.
“I’d never thought of playing volleyball before, but once my friends convinced me to do it and as practices went on I became more comfortable,” Mullins says. Her addition to the team was not a common experience, and wasn’t something that she planned. Originally her mom was trying to get her to try a new fall sport, but she wasn’t that interested. It wasn’t until over the summer that she started to consider it.
“She just came into the gym to practice basketball over the summer and [coach] Sachs asked her to come play volleyball with us - to just try it out for once.” Molly Pietlock, a senior and volleyball co-captain explained. “And Tessa, being the person that she is, tried it out, wasn’t great at it - had never played volleyball before - went home, studied film, looked at youtube videos, and came back a week later ready to be on the team.”
And that was only the start to Mullins' strides in becoming a volleyball player. She came to practice everyday ready to learn and excited to be on the team. “I was nervous, of course, I’d never played before” Mullins said, speaking to the first week of preseason in the fall, “but I kinda knew what I was getting myself into. Everyone being so understanding and helpful was a huge benefit.”
Mullins claims that it's the team camaraderie that helped her the most and convinced her to keep playing. “The team environment and the positive vibes with the girls. I’ve never played a sport that has had such a welcoming environment and the team culture has made it really fun.” Mullins says. Mullins, lovingly called Big T by her teammates, has gotten to experience a few traditions that enhance the team culture already- such as the Jansens runs where the team eats breakfast together on game days.
“She has the best attitude ever, she's so funny, and just her willingness to try and it being a completely new sport to her is just crazy and I think it’s good for a lot of people to see. She's so dedicated to getting better and it’s so fun to witness her achieve everything she has.” Pietlock says.
Tessa Mullins '25 (left) and Molly Pietlock '24 (right)
celebrating after winning a point against Ursuline Academy.
Of course, starting a completely new sport isn’t easy and Mullins had a lot to learn all at once at the beginning of the season. She had to put in the hard work to get better, but her dedication, coupled with her height , 5’10”, quickly made her a threat on the court. Despite all the new skills Mullins has had to learn, she claims that “hardest part is learning all the rules and getting a better sense of the game” and that her goal for the year is “to know where I’m supposed to be on the court.”
However, it wasn’t until her first game that Mullins really got to experience what volleyball was like. Her pre-game warm up consists of listening to hype music, and while on the bench she tries to “pay attention to the game…so when I go in I know where I’m su pposed to go.” She worries about messing up, but says that “no matter the score of the game everyone is so supportive” so she feels more comfortable going after every ball she can.
Despite the challenging nature of volleyball and the limited time Mullins has had to practice, she knows that whe
never she comes into a game she can feel as calm and comfortable as anyone else on the team. She says, “I’ve run the middle in practice a million times and I know I can do it just once more.”