Breast cancer Fundraiser success

With two losses against Magruder and Blair, the girls JV volleyball team are hanging in with their spirits.

"It’s not always about winning or losing. We do have fun out there, but we’re always flat on our Monday matches. We need to shake it off and perform better," Coach Susan Otto said.

On October 12, the Magruder Colenels came for a home game against the Devils. Beginning with a rough first set, the Devils could not get the ball back, allowing the Cardinals to gain consecutive points.

"They were serving pretty well, but we could have popped the ball up. Our wings and everything are too far apart, we need to pinch more like Coach said," junior Mercedes Tefera.

Tefera plays the position of an outside hitter so it is crucial for a good line up. In the second set, however, the girls were slow at transitioning, but had great blocks. Unfortunately, blocks were not enough to win the match and the Blue Devils lost 0-2.

"We need to play more aggressively. I feel like we’re all tired from school, but we can’t bring that energy here, that’s something everyone needs to fix on their own," Otto said.

On October 14, the girls traveled to play against Blair High School, where they lost 1-2.

"This match was crazy. The weather was terrible and we weren’t really pumped for the game until near the end," Tefera said.

During the first set, the Devils were getting serves in and passing the ball to the setter. A crushing victory, the Devils won the first set. In the second set however, with the score being 4-4, a power outage had occurred in the middle of a rally.

"The generator didn’t go on and the assistant principal of Blair was calling Geico. I was sure we were going to have to reschedule and cancel the match," sophomore Lily Stevens said.

It was not until shortly after, that the electricity came back on and both teams were allowed 10 minutes to warm up. Continuing the second set, the Devils lost their ability to control the ball and lost.

"We were losing it. I really think the outages threw us off track and we couldn’t stay focused anymore," Stevens said.

In the final set, the Devils did multiple substitutions for back row players. A head to head match both teams were tied 18-18; however the girls’ defenses were not strong enough to pop the ball back up.

"We did alright. Compared to last year, our match against Blair seems to be much better," Tefera said.

On October 16, both junior varsity and varsity volleyball girls traveled to the Comcast center to watch the Maryland Terps play against Florida State in a volleyball match.

"I hope for the girls to pick up some skills and strategies from this game. It’s a great opportunity to watch college kids play a sport competitively and the girls will be able to see why communication is so important down on the court," Otto said.

In an away match against the Wheaton High School Falcons on October 27. The ladies defeated the Wheaton Falcons in an aggressive game of 2-1. However there was not enough energy in their final match against Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (BCC).

"We played BCC at home on October 29 for the dig pink event and as our final game for the season. I think it was amazing, especially because of all the excitement everyone had," freshman Theresa Nguyen said.

Dig Pink is a project specifically dedicated to the fight against Breast Cancer. Its goal is to help schools fund money by selling baked foods and sponsoring any donations with respect to volleyball.

"Although we lost to BCC, we played a fun and close game," Nguyen said.

"I hope for the girls to pick up some skills and strategies from this game. It’s a great opportunity to watch college kids play a sport competitively, the girls will be able to see why communication is so important down on the court," Otto said.