The girls’ varsity volleyball team’s dreams were crushed Thursday night when they were defeated in their match against Spring Lake Park. They lost in three games 25-22, 25-16, and 25-14 after all three matches. Before the match, senior and team captain Megan Beacom said, “It’s our number one goal to be number one in our conference.” Unfortunately for them, this goal was not achieved.
Head coach for the varsity team Heidi Collins said the reason for the loss was because “we did not bring our game that night, and as the results show, we did not battle much after the first game.” Collins hopes to take this loss as a learning experience from which the team can grow: ” [this experience] will make them compete on a different level the next time they are faced with a challenge,” she said.
Winning their matches against North Branch on Tuesday, September 29th 25-15, 25-19, and 25-17, the team currently stands 12-6 in their overall season, with a 7-1 in their conference. They play four more games before the end of their regular season on October 14.
The girls are currently ranked second in their conference behind Spring Lake Park. “In order to keep that second place standing we need to beat the remaining conference teams on the schedule, Totino Grace and Columbia Heights,” said Collins.
Up until this game, the team had been undefeated in their conference. Beacom had contributed their success up until the game Thursday on team unity. “There’s a lot more team chemistry than last year,” said Beacom, “There are also six seniors on the team, so there is a lot more team leadership.” Each member of the team has been a factor in the team’s success this season. “We are utilizing every player on our roster in some capacity this season so it has really been a complete team effort,” said Collins.
