Briana May, Captain of the Varsity Volleyball Team
Sarah Rezavi '25 Staff Writer
Briana May is the head captain of the varsity volleyball team, and she “stuck out as a natural leader from the beginning,” Mrs. Ose, the girls varsity volleyball coach, proudly states.
May started playing volleyball when she was in the 5th grade and played all throughout middle school. She made the junior varsity volleyball team at Howard as a freshman. “My parents thought it would be a good way for me to make friends and get involved, because I moved here in my freshman year. I made friends and it was a good experience for me,” she explained.
When doing athletic sports, support is a highly contributing factor to success. May said her main supporters were her parents and Mrs. Ose. May explained, “She's amazing in general. She's such a good supporting person and good to look up to.” Mrs. Ose is known for her positive attitude and her coaching philosophy, which involves encouragement and growing together as a team. “A big emphasis of mine is team building. Talking about life and just focusing on growing together,” Coach Ose explained. She uses this tactic so that her athletes are successful on court and in the real world. Coach Ose tries to find future team captains this way, too. “I met Briana May four years ago, and she was trying out for the volleyball program. I was super impressed with her enthusiasm and her skill,” Coach Ose explains. May’s positive attitude was one of the main reasons Coach Ose chose her as captain. May has excitedly taken the position of captain, saying, “it’s a fitting role for me,” and that she really loves the team. May made varsity when she was only a sophomore and in her senior year she became captain. “She spent a lot of time learning the system and continued to develop from there.” Coach Ose says. The practices are from 3:00 to 5:30 Monday through Friday, and there's a short period of 30 minutes where players can eat. Instead, May and her fellow teammates train vigorously. “After school is when you usually get your homework done, but we are practicing for two and a half hours so you can’t really do your homework then,” she explains, saying that time management is a key factor to being a successful student-athlete.
While May is extremely athletically talented, she is in fact not going to be playing volleyball in her college years. “I don't want to give up a better academic experience or better college experience to play volleyball,” she explains. Briana May says the main message she takes away from volleyball is “don’t focus on being perfect. Just play and appreciate every time you get to.”
May started playing volleyball when she was in the 5th grade and played all throughout middle school. She made the junior varsity volleyball team at Howard as a freshman. “My parents thought it would be a good way for me to make friends and get involved, because I moved here in my freshman year. I made friends and it was a good experience for me,” she explained.
When doing athletic sports, support is a highly contributing factor to success. May said her main supporters were her parents and Mrs. Ose. May explained, “She's amazing in general. She's such a good supporting person and good to look up to.” Mrs. Ose is known for her positive attitude and her coaching philosophy, which involves encouragement and growing together as a team. “A big emphasis of mine is team building. Talking about life and just focusing on growing together,” Coach Ose explained. She uses this tactic so that her athletes are successful on court and in the real world. Coach Ose tries to find future team captains this way, too. “I met Briana May four years ago, and she was trying out for the volleyball program. I was super impressed with her enthusiasm and her skill,” Coach Ose explains. May’s positive attitude was one of the main reasons Coach Ose chose her as captain. May has excitedly taken the position of captain, saying, “it’s a fitting role for me,” and that she really loves the team. May made varsity when she was only a sophomore and in her senior year she became captain. “She spent a lot of time learning the system and continued to develop from there.” Coach Ose says. The practices are from 3:00 to 5:30 Monday through Friday, and there's a short period of 30 minutes where players can eat. Instead, May and her fellow teammates train vigorously. “After school is when you usually get your homework done, but we are practicing for two and a half hours so you can’t really do your homework then,” she explains, saying that time management is a key factor to being a successful student-athlete.
While May is extremely athletically talented, she is in fact not going to be playing volleyball in her college years. “I don't want to give up a better academic experience or better college experience to play volleyball,” she explains. Briana May says the main message she takes away from volleyball is “don’t focus on being perfect. Just play and appreciate every time you get to.”
ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021 - Libero Brianna May (right) with defensive specialist Morgan Harris (right) at a game against Hammond High School. S. RAINA & S. EHART/LION’S DEN