How to Handle Being Cut

Being cut is awful. It feels like a confirmation of all your insecurities and worries. When you find out it feels like the coach is telling you 'out of all these girls, you weren't enough.' It is a miserable feeling.
It's okay to cry; it sucks to work hard for something and then not achieve your goal. What's even worse is the cultural assumption that if you work hard enough enough you will automatically achieve what you were working towards. This is ultimately untrue. Research has shown that it is not how hard you work but rather the number of hours spent working in a manner that improves your current skills.
Just remember, you are enough. The coach isn't trying to say that you are this horrible person who sucks.

This is a highly competitive sport with only 36 open positions and when you have 70 girls trying out, half of them will get cut. Most likely, girls who have put in countless hours of work and years of service to the program will get cut simply because there are not enough positions. You did work hard and that effort wasn't wasted. You improved YOU and you are imortant. You are your first priority. Like the airlines say, put your mask on first before you assist others. A bit morbid but a good analogy nonetheless.

I haven't met a coach who enjoys making cuts. It can make them physically ill to try to figure out how to tell a girl they don't get a jersey.  Chocolate and Starbucks are often seen close to a coach on cut day. Girls who have been with the program multiple years are a particularly hard cut. How do you tell a girl that another player was better and there just isn't room on the team? Honesty is a good policy. Some coaches post a list which I am personally against. Take a practice to make cuts and have a volunteer run drills with the remaining players. A day of queen of the court or a Bjerring tournament is relaxing after several days of tryouts while still being productive. Give each player you are cutting at least one full minute of your time, they deserve that much at this level of play.
As players, how did you handle yourself while the coach gave you the news? Like I said, crying is okay but not flat out uncontrolled sobbing. Crying can mean you were attached to this goal and you are upset that you didn't achieve it. Screaming and cursing the coach is a bad thing and highly frowned upon if you want to a chance at making the team in future years. Blaming others is also a point against you in the long run. It signifies you aren't mature enough to handle rejection or loss and that is an attitude that coaches actively pass over.
What are you going to do now?
Well, are you interested in other sports? Swimming and cross country are typically non-cut sports that look for more participants. Girls soccer is also offered in the fall and could also be looking for more players. If you are interested than send an e-mail to the coach in the sport you are interested in and explain the situation. You weren't chosen for the volleyball team and you'd like to be considered for a late tryout for the sport of your choosing.
If your heart is dead set on volleyball you still have a few options. If you are willing to be a part of the program while not receiving a jersey or getting playing time in matches, then you can ask the coach for one of two options. First, you can ask if you can be a practice player or you can ask to be a manger for the team. This shows the coach you are dedicated to the program and you don't want to give up on your goal. Dedication and persistence are two qualities that coaches look for in players and will often choose over skill at the high school level. If the coach does allow you to stay on with the program under one of those two titles, you have to remember to take the second chance seriously. That means, no goofing off during practice and no skivving off to hang out with friends instead. You need to work just as hard, if not harder, than the girls with a jersey, and you have to continue to show you are dedicated to the program by showing up to all the practices and matches that are required of the players as well.
If you would rather take the high school season off then you can always sign up for academic clubs to take up your time instead. There are plenty offered and they provide plenty of other opportunities.
You can also still try out for club volleyball in November which is a much longer season and has many more opportunites for touches on the ball then high school does. There is less school spirit given that your club team will likely be made up of a variety of girls from a variety of schools and districts. Also, find a personal trainer and use the break from high school season to improve your physical statistics. This can set you apart from the girls who don't train.