Blazers beat Cavaliers to the finish

OCT. 28, KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL—

The Blair JV girls' volleyball team scored a clean 2-0 victory over Kennedy in the last game of the season, finalizing their seasonal record at 7-7. The Blazers began the night with a close 27-25 victory, then came together to finish the game and end the night with an easy 25-15 win.

The greatest contributing factor to a triumphant game and an overall successful season was the girls' unswerving teamwork. "We're all really happy with the team. Everybody gets along so well," sophomore co-captain Alice Fan said smiling. "We all love each other; we all worked well together."

A joint effort from every player, mixed with a few fortunate saves, earned the Blazers a well-deserved win. "We could have lost a lot of points, but we were lucky," said sophomore setter Christie Lin. In several plays, the ball was sent frenziedly across the net in what seemed to be only by chance.

Unfortunately, the luck didn't come at the beginning of game one. Both teams struggled to receive the ball. However, Blair's serving game excelled. Freshman Gabrielle Gersh served and aced to bring the Blazers to a 14-9 lead. The Cavaliers were unable to maintain focus and communicate on the court. This led to confusion and the Blazers' largest lead of the game at 12-20. Kennedy called a time-out, wishing to put a stop to Blair's momentum.

The Cavaliers returned from the time-out and did just that. The Blazers' lead diminished as points were added to Kennedy's side of the scorebaord. Blair's defense contained a hole in the middle of the court where balls continuously dropped and lacked the speed to pass deep-sent balls. With the crowd on its feet, a player from Kennedy missed a serve in overtime, giving Blair the lead 26-25. Freshman Olivia Bozik followed with a kill to end the match.

The second game consisted of multiple rallies of hard-earned points from both teams. Again, balls hit the floor in the middle of the Blazers' court, but Blair was able to counter Kennedy's weak short defense with dependable tipping. Eventually, Blair filled the gap in its defense with fast feet and increased energy levels. Twice in one play, Lin was able to pull the ball off the net, and send it over to a playable position where sophomore co-captain Wenjia Zhu sent the third ball over. While Blair's performance improved, Kennedy's drive diminished. Both the Cavalier's passing and hitting fell apart, and Blair managed to keep a ten-point lead throughout most of the game, up until their victory.

The trend of the game imitated the development of the entire season. The players have improved not only individually but as a group. "We've come a long way and we've really become a super team," said freshman Julie Brice.

Each of the team's six starting players are moving up to varsity next year, but coach Darya Holmes is optimistic about the future of JV Blair volleyball. "Our [remaining] team now has strong basics, and we've developed great skills," she whispered with a strained voice from cheering and yelling. "Hopefully we'll do even better next year."