The Phoenix Day School for the Deaf volleyball team is seeking a comeback season, with new head coach Jasmine Jeter on board to guide the way.

Jeter is partially deaf, along with assistant coach Megan Tellefson and the entire team, which makes playing the game a little harder. The girls often wave their hands to call for the ball and some girls will even shout to inform others that they plan to get to the ball.

As challenging as it may be to play volleyball without hearing, the girls make it look easy and do it with a smile on their face.

“When we get a good sequence going, with a good pass, a good set and a good hit, that’s a good time,” said sophomore setter Zoe Abrams-Gay.

With their last three seasons ending in sad stories and low stats, they are ready to change the image of their volleyball program.

PDSD has been ranked last in its conference, 1A -West, for the past six years and on average have gone 3-13 overall the past three seasons.

It’s been a rough start to this season, with six straight losses, but they maintain a fighting spirit. Senior Melissa Sanchez said that part of the difficulty has come down to communication.

“My greatest challenge is making sure which ball is mine whether I’m setting, hitting, or blocking," Sanchez said. "Just making sure we stay on top of that is difficult.”

The Phoenix Day School for the Deaf will have its next game Wednesday against the Frogs of Salome High School at 5 pm.

PDSD has a young team with only one senior and one junior. Jeter is excited to watch these girls grow and reach their goals by the end of the season while obtaining some victories along the way.

“A winning season is always the thing we want, we want wins,” Jeter said.

Winning aside, Jeter wants to see the girls improve on their weaker areas and feel more confident in playing volleyball.

“Whether it be their serves or any specific things we can help them improve on throughout the season,” Jeter said.

The biggest game for PDSD this season will happen at Spike-Out, a national deaf tournament in Riverside, Calif. on Oct. 5, where six deaf schools will compete, including PDSD’s sister school in Tucson, The Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind.

“We haven’t been invited since 2014, and it’s a big honor to be invited,” Jeter said.

“It will be a great experience, especially for the younger girls on the team to see what other teams look like and how they play volleyball, and to rise to that competitive level,” said Tellefson.

Some key players to look out for this season are Abrams-Gay, Sanchez, and sophomore Jackie Alberts. These girls are seen as the leaders on the court by not only coaches but their teammates as well, and they provide spirit to pick up the team.

The girls are working on coming together and playing as one so they can build connection and trust with each other on the court.

“I think growing as a team is really important for achieving our goals,” Tellefson said.

*An ASL-English translator was used while interviewing the coaches and the team.