Will Riddell is a Walter Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North High School.

For some girls on North’s varsity volleyball team, they started playing the sport because parents and siblings played volleyball. For others, their high school career represents the first time someone in their family has played competitive volleyball in high school.

Myah Bacon, Lizbeth Juarez, and Yessenia Rogelio grew up playing the game both in middle school and continuing on into high school. Other family members did not.

Bacon, who is a sophomore outside hitter, is the first person in her family to play volleyball. A three-sport athlete at North, Bacon also competes on the pitch and on the diamond for the Mustangs.

“Even though [volleyball] is not my main sport, I still try my best, my very best,” Bacon said. “Everything I can put into it, I put into it.”

After playing well in middle school, Bacon figured she might as well go out for the high school team too. She spent her first year on junior varsity, and now plays on the varsity team coached by Mindy Williams and John Lumm.

She’s one of just five underclassmen playing on North’s varsity team.

“I adapt well to different sports,” Bacon said.

One teammate Bacon looks up to is Juarez, another North player who is the first in her family to play volleyball at the high school level. The similarities do not stop there: Like Bacon, Juarez is also an outside hitter for the Mustangs.

Juarez first came into contact with volleyball as a fifth grader. She went out for the school team after a teacher encouraged her to see if she could find her way onto the roster. She did, and she has been hooked ever since.

“Ever since then I’ve loved it, and I’ve tried out every year,” Juarez said.

Since no one in the family had played competitively at a high level, Juarez relied on her first set of coaches to teach her the basics and fundamentals of the game.

“They knew about the game; I didn’t know nothing about the game,” Juarez said.

As a junior, Juarez finished second on the team in kills with 159 and tied for fourth on the team in aces with 30.

Juarez admits she dislikes sitting at home with nothing to do. Volleyball keeps her occupied.

Senior captain Yessenia Rogelio is also the first person in her family to be playing volleyball at the high school level. Just as Juarez started playing volleyball before middle school, Rogelio has been playing since the fourth grade. She grew up watching teams like Penn State, Texas, and Nebraska dominate opponents on her television. Rogelio led the team in kills this year with 220.

The Lady Mustangs lost just one game over the course of the regular season, finishing 17-1 overall.

Rogelio, Juarez, and Bacon all played an important role in North's 2019 regular season campaign.

Even though they are the first members of their families to play at the high school level, that does not stop them from thinking about family when they are on the court.

“I want to bring pride to them, showing them that I can ball out when I need to,” Rogelio said.