After a rigorous preseason, the Palo Alto High School girls’ volleyball team (8-3, 1-0) gears up to play Homestead High School (14-3, 1-0) for the first home league game this Thursday.

Last year, Palo Alto defeated Homestead twice, with scores of 3-0 at home and 3-1 away. The match between the teams this year will kickstart volleyball’s new league season in the Peery Family Center.

As a new player on varsity this year, freshman middle blocker Trisha Razdan feels confident in the team’s preparations.

“We are all trying to strengthen ourselves and our skills.” Razdan said. “We do a lot of scrimmaging in practice and we get opportunities to try new things like running different sets, and eventually we want to incorporate that into our matches.”

Razdan is the only freshman on the varsity team this year. According to the middle blocker, her teammates have motivated her to improve as a player.

“It’s really great since I get the chance to play with girls older than me,” Razdan said. “It’s also very humbling to be able to play with girls more experienced than me, and it encourages me to continue to work and get better at my game.”

The Vikings lost to Menlo during a tournament last weekend but defeated Lynbrook during their first league game last night.

“I’m looking forward to getting better as a player and the team getting stronger overall,” Razdan said.

The Vikings will challenge Homestead at 6:45 p.m. tomorrow in the Peery Family Center.