The high school girls’ volleyball teams traveled to Daegu Middle High School (DMHS) for a rematch against the Warriors on Oct. 7. Junior varsity earned a back-to-back victory with a set score of 2 to 1, but varsity lost 3:0 after a close final set of 24:26. 

The JV game commenced with the same starters as the first matchup in September. Unlike the first battle at DIS, they allowed the Warriors to take control of the flow and lost the first set 22:25. “We were all so pressured because it was an away game and their court is really loud. So the girls were scared,” junior varsity captain Nayoung Kim (14) said.  

However, they bounced back in the subsequent sets and claimed victory with scores of 25:17 and 17:15. “The third set was really tight, but we kept on fighting and being loud and cheering. And at the end, we got the point and everyone was about to cry and I was too. So that was a really proud moment as a captain,” Kim said. 

With a rocky start, the girls’ varsity lost the first two sets 11:25 and 9:25. Although the Warriors seemed undefeatable, the Jets persisted and gave their all. “For the first two sets we were losing and it was hard to persevere because it was by a pretty large gap. I think our mistakes in both hitting and defense really hurt us throughout the match,” varsity co-captain Minori Kojima (8) said.  

In the final set, varsity nearly turned the tables with freshman Mika Lee’s serve aces, which allowed her to score multiple points in a row. However, the team dropped the ball on defense and lost 24:26 after a competitive deuce. “I was really nervous but I got two serve aces in a row and I was glad that I was able to change the flow of the game,” Lee (25) said.

Different players posed different challenges to the Warriors. DMHS Varsity captain Jaellin Abaya said, “I think the best player was Mika Lee. She had good serves and played well and kept my players on their toes.”

“I feel this is probably the best team that we’ve had in a while. So I’m hoping that we can hopefully win a couple more games and be ready for SKAIS as well. And hopefully, we can defeat BFS this year,” said Kojima. The volleyball team travels to Busan for the SKAIS (South Korea Association of International Schools) tournament for their first conference matches of the season.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Jenny Lee

The varsity girls cheer after a successful play. They aim to turn the game around in favor of the Jets.