Carlmont’s JV volleyball team avenged the previous year’s defeat, beating the Aragon Dons in two sets on Oct. 12.
The Scots quickly got ahead during the first set. With a few errors on Carlmont’s side, Aragon was able to make a small comeback. Despite this, Carlmont was able to maintain their overall lead. Junior Mia Hariri Turner scored four consecutive points for Carlmont, ending the first set with a score of 25-13.
The second set had rough patches for both teams, including a lack of communication, balls hit out of bounds, and bad calls. Aragon took the lead initially, but Carlmont took the win 25-20.
“I think the game was a huge success because we lost against Aragon in the other league game,” said sophomore Brooke Toomasson. “We all connected. Last game, we didn’t do so good, so this game was an improvement.”
The team continued to cheer each other on throughout the game. A critical factor in the Scots’ win was their energy. Getting their payback against the Dons showed off their hard work and motivation.
“The game went really well, considering that we lost to Aragon the last time we played them. Our overall chemistry is great, and the team gets along really well,” said junior Annika Snow.
In the previous weeks, Carlmont had players missing due to illness and injuries. The team had to adapt to a different lineup and strategies. However, all the players returned for this week’s game.
“It was huge for us to have all the full roster back. Having the chance to have the full squad back today was a win in itself,” said head coach Sergio Smirnoff.
Many more positives emerged from this victory. Carlmont was able to regain their momentum and reconnect with each other.
“This game was really good for us because we’ve been in kind of like a slump for the past few games. We’re finally getting our chemistry back,” said sophomore Olivia Pasion.
In spite of their win, the team recognizes that there are areas in which they can improve. Throughout the game, miscommunication between players resulted in the ball dropping between them.
“It was in communication where we lost a couple of silly points where nobody was calling the ball. It’s only the small little things we need to improve on,” Smirnoff said. “I would say the other thing is that we need to transition faster from the net.”
The Scots plan to keep working hard in their upcoming practices and games. Even though they are a couple of games down from where they were last year, they hope to get as far as they can in the championships.
