Freshman and sophomore girls volleyball team falls to Menlo

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Margaret Cartee

Catherine Wong (10) tips the ball over the net. The freshman and sophomore girls volleyball team will play Mercy High School this Friday at 3:00 p.m. at home.

by Katelyn Zhao and Margaret Cartee

The freshman and sophomore girls volleyball team fell to Menlo yesterday at home 13-25, 17-25.

Menlo jumped out to an early lead with aggressive serves, and the Eagles called a timeout early in the first set to slow down their pace. After the timeout, Menlo continued their streak and won the first set by a margin of 12 points. 

The teams exchanged points at the beginning of the second set, with neither side dominating until Menlo slowly began to establish a lead. Harker called two timeouts towards the end of the set but ultimately lost by an eight-point margin.

Girls volleyball assistant coach Serena Chandler commends the team for their improved communication and serving in this game.

“They adjusted pretty well to the other team and got a lot of serves over that normally wouldn’t go over, so there’s a lot of good learning there,” Chandler said. “They were very vocal and talked a lot today.”

Co-captain Yifan Li (9) agrees with Chandler and trusts in the team’s companionship and commitment to volleyball to help them push through the rest of the season.

“We’re a team, and I know that we can play well together, [as] shown in our previous games, even though we didn’t win,” Yifan said.

For Sahngwie Yim (9), the spirit of the game resonates more than the outcome. Sahngwie tries to stay optimistic during games even when the team is down a few points.

“I think a takeaway is to always keep a positive mindset and try your best even if the game isn’t looking the best because you never know what will happen until the very end,” Sahngwie said.