Girls Volleyball

Program Overview

Season: Fall
2026 Opening Date: August 17
Teams: Varsity, Junior Varsity, First Team, Club
Varsity Head Coach: Kayla Arthurs

One of Thornton Academy’s newest varsity sports, volleyball is also one of its most popular. Thornton Academy sponsored its first volleyball program in 2012 when forty-four girls, many of whom were freshmen, competed on the first subvarsity-level teams.

Today Thornton Academy offers four volleyball teams and accommodates the interests of nearly seventy participants annually; no other high school in the state of Maine offers more teams in this sport than does Thornton. At this time, interscholastic volleyball in the state of Maine is open only to female participants.

The Thornton Academy volleyball program is open to student-athletes of all levels of ability and experience. For each of the school’s four teams, the focus is on learning the fundamental skills of the sport while incorporating practice in understanding tactical and team play. The Thornton volleyball program is also committed to serving the greater community and regularly conducts fundraising activities for various causes.

All practices and matches take place at Linnell Gymnasium. The process for earning a slot on the varsity squad is typically quite competitive. However, students with less experience or who may be looking to improve their skills have an opportunity to participate on one of the school’s three subvarsity teams. The junior varsity team plays a schedule that mirrors that of the varsity. The first team consists primarily of freshman players and plays a mixture of contests against conference opponents and non-SMAA competition. The club team is designed to serve novice and recreational players and will play contests both intramurally and against some other schools.