The varsity girls’ volleyball team set out to the Daegu Middle High School (DMHS) campus for a redemption game on Oct. 21. Although the Jets’ hopes soared after the head-to-head match at home, the rematch turned into a total rout. They dropped the match (0:3), with a margin of at least 10 points in the first two sets.
The first set kicked off with their usual line-up, Minori Kojima (9), Yul Sakong (29), Leewen Wang (1), Victoria Kang (10), Sally Lee (21), and Luisa Silva (26). Although they started strong, repeated serving errors from the roster widened the gap.
“A big and obvious [mistake] is serving mistakes. Mrs. Jolly always emphasized during practices that we always needed to get our serves in. But, unfortunately for that day, we were losing a lot of our points from serves and just overall communication,” said the senior libero Lily Lee (4).
The girls played hard, but failed to rebound from the growing point difference. With the bench members rotated in and morale lifted, they stepped back onto the court (14:25).
The second set opened with a narrow three-point gap, but consistent errors across all areas of play gave the Warriors the advantage. The loss placed additional pressure on the Jets to secure the third set (15:25).
Nevertheless, veteran players maintained their rhythm and pace on court. “Minori, who was really strong, was really consistent and kept the ball on the court. And Lily is our libero and she got so many balls up in the air that I just thought we couldn’t get. [Lily] doesn’t get in her head. If she makes a mistake, she just moves on,” said coach Mrs. Jolly.
As the match moved into the third set, the seasoned athletes’ strong mentality provided a steady foundation for the team. The two teams competed in a tight race for points, pushing the match to a deuce. Despite their efforts, Silva’s attack into the net during the final rally cost the Jets the last point (24:26).
Looking ahead at the upcoming KISAC tournament, the players reflected on key areas for improvement following the friendly match. “Serve-receives, communication, and tip-coverage. Our tip coverage was too loose and we weren’t communicating. I think we’re not used to the court and the lights on the [ceiling] were blinding,” said Sakong (29).
Learning from their experience against DMHS, the girls hope to showcase their growth in their first official tournament of the season on Oct. 23 in Jeju. “Our girls were really nervous going in and it showed on the court, but throughout the match, everyone improved and we were able to get everyone to play. It was really important that we had that match, especially for going into KISAC,” said Mrs. Jolly.
