By Giselle Dalili
The upper school volleyball teams completed their seasons and finished with strong records. Each team worked vigorously in both practices and games to achieve their results. They said that they have learned about their strengths and weaknesses throughout the season.
The varsity team completed the season with an overall record of 21-11. They began the season with six consecutive wins, which was later tarnished by a couple of losses starting with the Mohs tournament at Long Beach Poly HS. The team had inconsistent scores mid-season, but bounced back with a 3-0 win against Newbury Park High School on Sept. 15. They lost their first round of the CIF playoffs 1-3.
The varsity team said they are content with their score by the end of the season and are proud of how they played even when the girls lost.
“Overall we played well and really came together to beat some good teams. In some of the sets we would lose by a lot but rallied together to win the match,” coach and program head Adam Black said.
The JV team completed the season with an overall record of 19-7. In their first game, they won 2-0 against Lakewood High School. The girls had both wins and losses up to their Westlake tournament, where they finished undefeated. The team ended their season with three consecutive wins.
The players on the JV team said that they achieved one of their goals of better communication with one another.
“Our team’s goals were to work together cohesively and communicate during games. I feel that we have done a good job to accomplishing this goal,” outside hitter Lola Craig ’20 said.
The freshmen team’s overall record is 28-4. The girls had a winning streak until a Mohs Tournament against San Clemente on Sept. 17. They were undefeated in both their Westlake and Lakewood Tournaments. Their season ended on a high note with a win against Oaks Christian High School on Oct. 27.
The middle school teams felt that they were successful in incorporating different levels of experience into their teams and making them work cohesively. Each team ended the season with contrasting records.
The black team ended with an overall record of 5-4. Their season started with a win against Paul Revere Charter Middle School on Sept. 20. They ended their season with both wins and losses, then went on to win the Delphic League Semi-Finals against Campbell Hall. The black team lost the Delphic League Championships on Nov. 4.
The black team girls felt as if they played vigorously and exerted their best effort. Although their energy was high, the girls faced some setbacks.
“Throughout the season, I feel like we played very hard. Unfortunately, we lost our championship game. One of the major issues that we struggled with was determination. We would play aggressively in the beginning but once the other team began to win points, we would completely give up,” middle back Laina Bolton ’21 said.
The white team’s overall record is 3-5. The girls lost their first game against Marlborough on Sept. 27 with a score of 1-2. The white team won two games in row on Oct. 4 and 6, but they lost their CIF Semifinals game against St. Matthews on Nov. 1.
The white team girls believed that they ended strongly. The girls said that they were devastated to lose their semifinals game, but were proud of making it so far.
“It is really important that we always tried 110%. Sometimes, we would try 50% but at the end of the game, we would play 100% but it would never be enough to win. So exceeding what we thought were our limits is something that we needed to work on,” outside hitter Sophia Lindus ’22 said.
The red team has an overall record of 1-5. They won their first game against the wolverines white team, but were not able to bounce back with another win.
“Although I think we did well this season, I hope that we as a team can work more cohesively and reach greater goals next year,” outside hitter Isabelle Hyman ‘22 said.
