Varsity girls volleyball loses 3-1 to Menlo High School in CCS Semifinals
November 19, 2015
Varsity girls volleyball lost the CCS Semifinals to long time rival Menlo on Wednesday at Notre Dame Belmont with a score of 1-3, ending their season at 19-9 overall and 9-1 in league.
With a strong start, the team won with a score of 25-23 in the first set. The girls lost the next three sets, with scores of 22-25, 18-25 and 18-25, respectively.
Doreene Kang (12), one of the captains, reflected on how pleased she was of the team despite their loss.
“I’m proud of how our team played,” she said. “We played really hard and I was glad to see some people really step up and lead the team this game.”
Dan Molin, the athletics director at the Upper School, commented about the good leadership that the three seniors have shown as captains of the team.
“With any varsity team, good senior leadership is very, very important,” he said. “It’s solid leadership skills that these girls have brought that are going to be passed down to the younger underclassmen and it’s just going to perpetuate; next year’s leaders are going to come in and be solid leaders as well.”
The girls previously lost to Menlo when they played against them on Oct. 22.
As it was the last game of the season, many of the team members were saddened by the fact that they would never play with their senior team members again.
“It’s really sad because I connected with all the seniors even more after moving up, even after the one week I was with them,” Tiffany Shou (10) said. “It’s really sad to see us lose because I know we’re such a good team. Jackie, Do and Shannon, I love you all, don’t forget me–but you guys probably will, so it’s alright. Just keep doing you.”
This is especially heartbreaking for head coach Theresa “Smitty” Smith, who has taught the seniors ever since they started playing in freshman year.
“I felt so bad for them because this is it for high school; they’ll go on and play in college but this is it for their high school career, so it’s hard,” she said. “I’m so proud of them. They’re great human beings besides volleyball players; they’re really good people, they care about people, they take care of people, they were good leaders. I love them and I’m going to miss them.”