JV girls' volleyball falls handily to Paint Branch

Sahar Shahamatdar, Page Editor

Sept. 11, NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM -

Despite dropping its season-opener against Watkins Mill, the girls' JV volleyball team showed confidence and enthusiasm against Paint Branch on Tuesday. With the encouragement of the varsity team as well as parents and coaches, the players were hyped for their first home match-up of the season. The energy was not enough though, as the Blazers, plagued by inconsistent serves and a lack of communication, lost in two sets, 25-18 and 25-14.

Both teams started the first set with unforced service errors. The Blazers started to pull away, but their inconsistent serving allowed the Panthers to easily catch up. A nice rally by the entire team put Blair on top again, but the lead proved to be short lived.

With a couple of great serves by Paint Branch, the girls quickly lost their composure and started to melt under the pressure. Strong rallies late in the set led by sophomores Sophia Deng and Anna Kang were not enough, as the Panthers eventually triumphed, 25-18.

Although Blair showed more consistency and effort in the second set, Paint Branch led the entire time, eventually winning by double digits. With poor communication, the team gave up many easy points. Though they were able to control Paint Branch's serves, there were no follow-throughs. Sophomore co-captain Lucy Liu showed tremendous determination diving for many balls, but it was not enough, as the disheartened Blazers were easily defeated, 25-14.

Throughout the entire game, the Blazers allowed several easy returns to slip through their fingers due to lack of communication. This is the first year for many players and coach Greg Franklin believes that the girls will "eventually catch up with practice."

By learning to talk to each other and following through on service returns, this year's JV team can continue their growth and work towards their first win of the season.

JV girls' volleyball's next game is against Springbrook on Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m.