They bump together. They spike together. And yes they roll tortillas together.

Could this tortilla rolling have something to do with the team’s awesome success? Well it may not be totally responsible, but it is more important than what meets the stomach.

Before each match, usually at night, the boys’ varsity volleyball team enjoys a wonderful meal of tacos, enchiladas, rice, refried beans, and cornbread-- the usual Mexican feast.

A Mexican dinner doesn’t quite seem normal, seeing as most sports at Arrowhead embrace in a spaghetti or Italian dinner. It all started when Head Coach Jean Henschel hosted her dinner.

“I took the team to Señor Tomas,” Henschel said. “We played very well in our home tournament taking second. We were eating Mexican before each match from there on out.”

So superstition is responsible for the team’s success? Well not quite.

“The team unity from these dinners helps them click,” Henschel said. “They get to know each other not only on the court, but off the court as well.”

Any coach can admit to the fact that the better a team interacts, the further the team’s success goes.

“Volleyball is not an individual sport at all,” Henschel said.

As awkward as the Mexican meal sounds, it seems to get the job done on the court. However, other off-court team building activities are used as well.

“If it’s not a dinner, it’s a team lunch or movie,” Henschel said.

“We have a new team this year, so helping the team bond is huge,” Senior Sean Kebbekus said.

However, off-court activities can’t fully do the trick.

“We play a lot of ‘childish’ games during practice that really help us with our team’s unity,” Kebbekus said.

“Volleyball’s a team sport,” Captain Kasen Riemersma said. “The activities help our communication a lot.”

Communication. Off-court bonding. Tortilla Rolling. Could these be the secret ingredients to a volleyball team’s accomplishments? It may be so.