The DIS middle school girls’ volleyball team traveled to Jeju for the Korean International School Activities Conference (KISAC) at Korean International School Jeju (KISJ) from Feb. 29 to Mar. 2. The tournament concluded with Jets varsity in third and junior varsity (JV) in seventh.

The A team finished day one with only one loss. With a landslide win against Saint Johnsbury Academy Jeju (SJAJ) with scores of 25:19 and 25:18, the squad showed success from the get-go. “The games went smoothly and I remember there were some crazy saves. We got emotional sometimes but we managed to get back to it. Experiencing KISAC volleyball for the first time made me feel nervous but overall, it went great,” Sophia Yoon, a seventh-grade right-side hitter, said.

Subsequently, DIS faced the defending champions of KISAC, Busan Foreign School (BFS). The Jets beat the Sharks with ease and swept the court with a set score of 2-0. The win streak boosted the crew’s morale to the next level.

After lunch, the Jets competed against North London Collegiate School Jeju (NLCS). Although the crew took the lead in the first set (25-20), the Orcas snatched the second set (25-27). Due to the intense pressure of set three, DIS girls fell back with small mistakes, and Orcas took the chance to earn the victory. “Even though we lost, we showed great teamwork and skills. I blocked one of the best hitters of the team and she stopped spiking towards me, and I felt really proud,” eighth-grade varsity middle blocker Lydia said.

As a finale to the first day, varsity stood back up from defeat against the BHA Bears and finished off strong with scores 25:23 and 25:23. Constant communication errors from the match left the Jets worried for day two. “It was a really close game, but it ended with our victory so I was really proud of all my teammates. We had lots of successful spikes throughout the tournament, which made me really happy as a setter,” Agnew Kim, the eighth-grade setter, said. 

The second day set off in motion as the varsity Jets faced the undefeated team, KISJ Dragons. Wrecked by nerves, the girls lost the first game. Pass misses, communication errors, and the absence of starter Elena Lee (19) held the girls back.

“I think we could’ve won against KISJ if we were louder in the court. Some of the KISJ girls had really powerful spikes and serves and we left holes in the defense so we really missed our defender Elena. Overall, our team played great and we gave all we’ve got on the court,” said Yul Sakong, the seventh-grade varsity outside hitter.

The round-robin placed DIS in the winners’ bracket and advanced them to the semifinals. They fought against BHA once again. The Jets took the lead with strong serves and focused receives. However, as the game progressed, BHA aimed for revenge and swept the court with 25:18 and 25:16.

“We were getting emotional and no one was talking in the court but Becky calmed us down. I made a lot of serve misses and I felt regretful because my receives were also not good but my teammates cheered me up,” said Mika Lee, the eighth-grade outside hitter.

The loss shocked other schools as well. “I expected DIS to be our opponent for the finals game, but unfortunately they lost in the semis. I think DIS is a strong team because they had really good serves and there were some good hitters,” said Somin Ahn (0), the eighth-grade ace outside hitter from KISJ.

Despite the disappointment, Jets cleared up their minds for the bronze medal match against NLCS. The Jets dominated the Orcas 25:20 and 25:7 and held the third-place trophy with pride. “During the semis, I heard the NLCS girls talk about how bad DIS was and that they could beat us easily. But we beat them by 18 points in the second set and I saw a few girls crying over the net. I was really happy because I had some serve aces by one of the best receivers in the team,” said Becky Cho, the eighth-grade middle blocker and captain of the varsity team.

Meanwhile, continuous ups and downs filled the KISAC experience for the JV. On day one, they crushed the KISJ Dragons but fell short in the next two games against SJA and NLCS due to shaky receives.

On day two, the level of drama hit its peak. The JV girls went up against the Hilltoppers once again. They took the first set 25:23 after many close rallies, but communication errors led them to lose the second round (23-25). Unfortunately, they failed to take set three with points at 11:15. Nonetheless, the girls finished on a hopeful note as they took both sets from the KISJ Dragons easily (25:13 and 25:17).

“I think a lot of the Jeju teams are really skilled and they had much more experience than us. We couldn’t control our emotions that well in the court and I think we need to work on having a stronger mentality. But I want to say that all our teammates played really well and I hope we can win next year,” said junior varsity starter Elly Song.

Although both teams fell short of the championship trophy, the girls showed great improvements throughout the tournament and gave their all on the court. As the volleyball season ends, middle school basketball marks a new beginning.