Barons volleyball bring down Blazers

NELSON H. KOBREN GYMNASIUM, Sept. 5—

The girls' varsity volleyball team (0-1) was overwhelmed in a difficult match against the B-CC Barons (1-0), whose powerful offense seemed unstoppable for the Blazers. Though Blair showed improvement as the game progressed, they dropped all three of the game's sets by scores of 12-25, 16-25 and 14-25.

Despite losing handedly, Blair showed promise at the beginning of each set. In the first set, Blair immediately lost three straight points to B-CC but then recovered and tied up the game, keeping the score even for a stretch. The Blazers played especially well in the second set leading before B-CC's offense again pushed ahead. Head Coach Christopher Klein believes that the team played better as the game progressed. "Once we shook off the nerves we played really tough and really well," he said.

The Blazers were relentless in their efforts despite falling behind the Barons. Sophomore Jade Liu showed a lot of determination from the back-row, continuously going for the ball and driving it forward to her teammates in front. Despite the end result, the team was relatively happy with the performance. "We really tried. It was a good way to start off the season," co-captain junior Amy Yan said.

Klein felt that small mistakes throughout the game cost the Blazers the win. "We made some mistakes, like serving to the wrong player and missing serves," he said.

The Barons had a knack for hitting powerful spikes, putting the Blazers' defense on edge. Klein credited the Barons' offense as the driving force behind their win. "To be honest, B-CC was a really good opponent," Klein said. "They played a really subtle offense."

Klein thought that in the future, varying the Blazers' offensive strategy could do a lot for getting wins, as well as strengthening the team's fundamental skills. Yan agreed with her coach, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and precision. "We have to be trickier, we have to communicate and we have to cut down on mistakes," she said.

Despite the loss, the Blazers were far from discouraged with their first game and recognize that B-CC is a tough opponent. "We have plenty of time [to improve]," said Yan.

The girls' varsity volleyball team will play its next home game against Wheaton on Sept. 11 at 4:30 p.m.