Tymofiy Kornyeyev

Two hitters for the Scots form a double-block to shut down an opposing play.

A particularly tough second set led the Scots to drop an away game to the Bearcats with a 2-1 final score. This undermined the promising precedent put in place by a breezy first set.

As a league game, this match against the Bearcats was crucial because it counted towards both teams’ records. According to the Carlmont Athletics website, the Scots have played in one tournament and 6 games with a 50% win percentage, excluding this match. On the other hand, the Bearcats’ win ratio is 100%, having won all three of their previous matches this year. 

Despite their loss, the Scots started out strong, racking up a six-point lead against the Bearcats soon into the first set. By the end of the first set, Carlmont had built a 14-point wall that the Bearcats weren’t able to hurdle. 

The loss of set two was the turning point of the match.

“What happens a lot is we do really well in the first set, and then we kind of give it up in the second and don’t push hard enough for the third set,” said Pailey DeBorde, sophomore opposite hitter for the Scots.

A combination of unfortunately timed serves into the net and poor team coordination from Carlmont allowed the Bearcats to mirror the Scots’ initial lead in the first set. These errors inevitably resulted in a 25-18 loss of the second set.

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Tymofiy Kornyeyev

The Scots joins together for a group huddle between sets.

“Our passes needed to be better so our setter could get a good setup, we should have covered the open spots on the other side of the court better, and overall should have just had more energy,” DeBorde said. 

The game looked like it might turn in favor of the Scots during the third set. Tying up the score halfway at 11, they fought with determination for several long rallies. Ultimately, the team fell short as the buzzer ended the game, resolving the score with a mere two point lead for the Bearcats.

“I think we definitely should have won that game. The toughest part was probably having two of my girls coming back after being off for a couple of weeks,” said Michelle Spence, Carlmont’s JV girls volleyball head coach.

The coach’s sentiment was shared by the players, who also believed this was their game to win. 

“I think [the Bearcats] have some good plays and some good players, but I do think that we’re better and we should have won,” DeBorde said. 

In spite of the score, the team spirits remained relatively high. Throughout the match, the players exchanged high-fives and cheered each other on after impressive receives and successful spikes, 

Moving forward, the team wants to improve their coordination and hopes to come back stronger than ever.

“This game we realized there are a lot more things that we needed to work on so that we can come back in our next league games and play more cohesively,” Spence said.