The varsity volleyball girls lost to Bradshaw Christian on Oct. 2 in their longest match of their season.
“We started off rough,” junior Kaeleigh Valverde said.
In the first set, the Pride had the first serve, but the Cavs immediately got it back. Both teams had very short serving runs and could not get a lead. Around the middle of the set, the Cavs got a tiny lead, but it was blown away soon after. At the very end, Bradshaw Christian caught a tiny lead, which pushed the Cavs down to their first loss of the match, 23-25.
The second set was almost exactly like the first. Possession of the ball went back and forth with each point. The Pride had a 5-point lead for a little while, but primarily the teams stayed tied for most of the match. Bradshaw Christian shot ahead by just a bit at the end and struck down SCDS, 22-25.
After the first two sets, junior Isabelle Leavy, a player on the bench, said that she still believed the Cavs could win.
“It was so close,” Leavy said. “I knew we were good enough to fight back.”
However, Valverde did not share Leavy’s optimistic views.
“I honestly didn’t know how we could make a comeback,” Valverde said. “But then we did!”
The Cavs’ complete turnaround began when they gained a tiny lead in the middle of the third set and held on to it.
“(Bradshaw) made a lot more errors than we were expecting,” sophomore Yasmin Gupta said, “so we pushed through.”
In the fourth set, the Cavs’ good luck continued as they had a 5-point lead in the beginning. Later, the Cavs maintained a 12-point lead after sophomore Katia Dahmani’s 8-point serving run. The Cavs unexpected reversal earned them another win, 25-9.
In the fifth set, the Cavs won the first serve, but almost immediately fell behind. During the last couple of points, the boys’ soccer team came from their win against Buckingham Charter and surrounded history teacher Bruce Baird.
The group gave some rallying war cries for the girls, but their wild cheers were not enough. The Cavs lost, 9-15.
The crowd did not stick around very long to console the girls because the announcer reminded the audience of the Sports Boosters’ chili cook-off outside, so everyone quickly shuffled over.
Leavy said that she takes pride in the Cavs’ fight against the Pride because they were above SCDS’s division and have annihilated other teams.
“The game was really a test of our strength as a team,” Leavy said. “And, as far as I’m concerned, we passed with flying colors. We fought so hard, and I couldn’t be more proud of the team. Also, it was crazy fun to watch.”
Members of the SCDS community agreed. Math teacher Patricia Jacobsen, Spanish teachers Patricia Portillo and Federico Alpizar, history teachers Daniel Neukom and Baird, English teachers Jane Bauman and Patricia Fels, Latin teacher Jane Batarseh, headmaster Stephen Repsher and Brooke Wells, head of high school, switched between the soccer and volleyball games throughout the night.
“I love the support,” Leavy said. “It means a lot that teachers are willing to come out, especially Dr. Baird. That guy just never stops cheering!”
SCDS students and chili chefs from the chili cook-off also darted in and out of the gym.
Throughout the first few sets, the spirit committee ushered people over to a table outside the gym near the entrance and painted their faces red and black. The committee also encouraged all students to wear red and black clothes during the school day.
The girls’ next match will be at home at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5, against the Faith Christian Lions, who have a record of 6-2. The match’s time was moved up so that SCDS players could prepare for their class trips, which begin Tuesday, Oct. 6.
-By Sonja Hansen
