Raheem loves team camaraderie with Lady Panthers

Published 11:30 am Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Sydneé Raheem loves participating in many sports from dancing to basketball. But the sports she loves the most is volleyball.

“I love it so much that I quite basketball and dancing to pursue volleyball,” she said.

As middle hitter for the Lady Panthers, she is always in the middle of the action on the court and not just slamming the ball down on the opposition.

“No, there are many other things to concern you like blocking, making sure the block is closed so the defense doesn’t have a big gap.

“It’s probably one of the hardest positions in volleyball.”

The funny thing is that Raheem didn’t decide that she wanted to play the middle.

“I kind of was put there,” she said. “But once I was put there, it stuck. It’s now my favorite position.”

As a member of the 2020 volleyball team, Raheem was a big part of the team that advanced to the Pontchartrain Center for the LHSAA State Volleyball Tournament.

“We had a good group of seniors last year but this year we have a better connection.” Raheem said. “It was a good year but dealing with COVID wasn’t fun at all. Especially with the fact that everything could have been stopped instantly.”

She helped this year’s team advance to state as well, this time at the Cajundome, but is out with an injury.

Raheem said the team put in the work over the summer to get ready for the season. Everything from 6 a.m. workouts to putting up with the rain and heat while training.

But as a senior this season she was ready to take over the leadership role for the Lady Panthers and to relive the camaraderie of playing games with her teammates.

“The traveling, the bus rides, playing with this group of girls. It’s all things that I’m looking forward to,” she said.

As for personal goals for the season, Raheem, besides helping lead CHS to a championship, is hoping that there is a scholarship offer coming as well.

“Ideally, I’d like to play for LSU because it’s close and I can still get TOPS from the state,” she said. “But right now. I’ve had some interest from other schools.

“And if I got an offer from out-of-state I would go.”

School: Catholic High School

Position: Middle Hitter

Height: 5 feet, 8 1/2 inches

Vertical Jump: 24 inches