On Wednesday, Oct. 9, the Archie Williams girls varsity volleyball team met the Marin Catholic High School Wildcats for the Falcons’ last home game of the season. The tough game featured the Falcons’ Senior Night, honoring soon-to-be graduating varsity players. The game ended with the Falcons losing 0-3, shifting their record to 2-17.
The first set began with the Falcons scoring the game’s first points and taking a short-lived early lead. Junior setter Alyse Rosen led with the two points off serves, miscommunication between the Wildcats giving the Falcons an advantage. However, the Wildcats quickly ended the first set after delivering strong attacks to begin their lead on the scoreboard, finishing the set with a score of 14-25.
“[The] most challenging part was keeping our energy up when the score wasn’t [looking] good. It’s really easy to get in your head when you’re not doing the best, but due to our team community we built, it’s really easy to play off each other and go off each other’s energy, and [all together] we struggled with our energy,” said senior right side Sadie Smith.
As the second set began, the Falcons took the first point again but struggled to stay in the set for much longer. The Wildcats soon took another lead, scoring repeatedly and forcing the Falcons to call a timeout to reconsider their defensive game plan. Despite a timeout reset and a new defensive strategy for Archie Williams, the Wildcats dominated the set, ending with a score of 9-25, putting the Falcons down 0-2.
“The best part of the game was seeing new [player] lineups, because it was Senior Night. Even though our energy was pretty low the whole time, because the seniors got to go out, everyone’s energy and mindset was that it was [to celebrate the seniors and] have a good time even though the score wasn’t how we wanted it to go,” Alyse said.
The Wildcats entered the third and final set of the night with the momentum on their side. This time the Falcons couldn’t steal the first point and the Wildcats took the early lead.
The Falcons needed to maintain a strong and coordinated defense to stay in the game against the Wildcats’ fierce offense. Senior outside hitter Rainey Preston helped the team to score, but unfortunately fell short, ending the final set with a score of 9-25. Varsity girls volleyball head coach Lisa Hudson believes that the team has room for improvement regarding their offense and low scoring rate per period.
“It was a challenging night for us tonight. [The Wildcats] played really well, and [our team] did not play our best. Our energy was a bit low at times. I think it made it special that we were able to honor our seniors, however,” Hudson said.
At the end of the night, Archie Williams teammates shared heartfelt speeches saying their goodbyes to senior players Sadie and Rainey.
The Falcons kept their heads up despite the tough loss and look forward to their final game at San Marin High School Oct. 16, hoping to play with more energy and secure one more win.
