Sophomore Bri Turner, junior Tori Van Vleck, senior Katia Dahmani and junior Bella Mathisen congratulate each other on the court after winning a point in the third set of their match against Woodland Christian School.

Varsity girls have ‘outstanding’ game despite losing to tough opponent

Jacqueline Chao
Sophomore Bri Davies, junior Tori Van Vleck, senior Katia Dahmani and junior Bella Mathisen congratulate each other on the court after winning a point in the third set of their match against Woodland Christian School on Sept. 18.

“It’s games like these that are not only fun but give us the opportunity to grow as a team,” said sophomore Jewel Turner in response to the varsity volleyball team’s defeat by Woodland Christian School on Sept. 18.

The game started off neck-and-neck in the beginning of the first set.

However, by the time the score got into the double digits, the Cardinals had pulled ahead. Even with a few impressive plays, the Cavs were unable to gain the lead, and lost the set, 14-25.

Despite this setback, the team’s intense energy and that of their enthusiastic fans remained high.

Like the first set, the second began with a close score. However, the Cavs soon fell behind again.

They continued to lag, and when the score was 7-17, coach Jason Kreps called a timeout, after which the Cavs gained a few more points but never kept the ball long enough to seriously improve their score.

They soon lost, 10-25.

However, the Cavs had not given up, and both the players and audience went wild when the team won the first point of the third set.

This was just the spark that they needed. Once the Cavs had taken hold of the lead, they held onto it, though their opponents were never far behind.

Again, however, the Cardinals were able to make a comeback and, once behind their opponents, the Cavs couldn’t regain the lead.

By the time the score was 19-24, there seemed to be little hope of victory. Despite winning one more exciting rally, they lost the third and final set, 20-25.

So why does Turner believe this game was so great?

 

Jacqueline Chao
Sophomore Bri Davies goes for a spike in the girls’ third set.

Well, despite their many setbacks (including the absence of junior Lia Kaufman and senior Yasmin Gupta, two of their key players) the team was able to play it’s very best, according to coach Jason Kreps.

 

“This team is one of the (most difficult) we play, (but the girls) competed hard and played as (well) as they could have,” Kreps said.

“They played defense well, kept each other up, worked for each other and had lots of energy!”

The Cardinals have a 12-4 overall record and have been hard competition for the Cavs in the past.

Junior Bella Mathisen agreed that, considering their tough opponents, the team’s playing was outstanding.

“Our hits, passes, sets and serves (were) good,” Mathisen said.

“It was just (our opponent’s) serving runs that brought us down enough for them to win.”

According to sophomore Bri Davies, this game was a great opportunity.

“We got to play a really good team and get experience as a team at a higher-paced level,” Davies said.

Even so, Davies said that there is some fine tuning that needs to be done.[related title=”Related Stories” stories=”25489,25584″ align=”right” background=”on” border=”none” shadow=”on”]

“(It is) in-the-moment things, like being that extra step in position or knowing where the open holes are on the other side of the court (that we need to work on),” said Davies.

Junior Heidi Johnson agreed that the team could have done better in some areas.

“Our energy dragged at some points when the other team had runs,” Johnson said.

“There were times when we needed better communication or to be (more) confident with our passes.”

Even so, Johnson pointed out that the main goal of the game was to learn for the the future.

Their next game is on Tuesday, Sept. 19, against Buckingham Charter Magnet High School at Vaca Pena Middle School at 6 p.m.

By Anna Frankel

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