Halstead’s Bailey Bernal enters her senior season determined to help the Dragons reach their potential while building memories with some of her closest friends — including her younger sister, Brenley.
“This upcoming season I am most excited to see what we can accomplish as a team,” Bernal said. “I have some of my best friends on this team which includes my little sister Brenley, so I just want us to do as good as we possibly can.”
Bernal knows her final season will go quickly, which has made her approach to the season simple: work hard and leave nothing to regret.
“I don’t want to look back and regret what could have been,” Bernal said. “So I hope that we keep working hard and just try to perform our best.”
Bernal has spent much of her high school career preparing for seasons by staying active year-round. This offseason, she played club volleyball from November through the end of June while also lifting weights and working on sprinting and jumping.
She also competed for Halstead’s basketball team, continuing a busy routine that has seen her transition between sports throughout high school.
“For the past three years of high school, I’d be going from basketball to volleyball multiple nights a week,” Bernal said.
Now, as a senior, Bernal is looking to take another step in her development, particularly in her leadership.
“I feel like I’ve been in a leadership role for a little while now on this team, but as a senior I’d like to step it up even more,” Bernal said. “I’ve been trying to talk with the girls more and make sure that everyone is on the same page.”
Bernal believes communication can make a significant difference on the court and wants to use her experience to help her teammates throughout the season.
“I feel like this is a very important part of the game and I’d like to utilize that,” Bernal said.
Bernal also enters the season with individual and team goals. She hopes to help Halstead make a deep postseason run while continuing to improve alongside her teammates.
“For our team I’d like for us to make it as far as possible,” Bernal said. “As long as we are working as hard as we can, I think we could have a great year.”
Individually, Bernal has set her sights on reaching 1,000 career digs. She recorded 289 digs last season to go along with 421 kills and 31 aces.
“For myself I’d like to reach 1,000 digs and leave it all on the line for this last year and again just not have any regrets,” Bernal said.
With one final season ahead, Bernal is ready to embrace her role as a senior leader and make the most of her time with her teammates and sister.
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