Without Marissa, the 8th grade girls lost their second straight game tonight in straight sets 25-17 and 25-18.
The girls played decent but sometimes decent isn't good enough for a win. The inability to consistently serve the ball over to create momentum was probably their biggest flaw in tonight's loss.
Points accumulated on offense came in bits and pieces. Unlike their first game of the year, there was no wave of points off of their own serves. Trying to get a point here and there to win a set is too difficult.
One of the bright spots in tonight's game was Catharine, who hit an ace, served the best she had in three games, and her improvement on the serve receive.
However, at (1-2), the girls will need to regroup and get back on the winning track. At times they scoreboard watch a little too much and it messes with their psyche. Their communication tonight wasn't as good as the last few games and there was a general lack of urgency on the girls part.
One good thing the team did as a whole was they were able to tip the ball a few times at the net to score some points, something they've worked hard on in practice. It was good to see some of their work during the week pay off.
"This team has a lot to work on," said assistant coach Carly Wong. "All of them are on different levels and I think its up to the individual to improve themselves."
Strong second set for the 5th/6th grade girls
After a forgettable first set, the 5th/6th grade girls came back with a strong start to the second set, even tying the score at 11-11 before eventually losing in straight sets 25-10 and 25-17.
The other team was just too much to handle from their annoying cheers to overhand serves. They were also one of few times at the low 6th grade level that can bump, set and spike -- a little unfair anybody?
But the girls gave a solid effort as they are now able to hit the ball back and forth several times, and the rallies are more than just a serve and one return.
Fiona played her best game of the year and served consistently throughout the second set, including a few aces. Michelle also got her serve over, leading to some points for St. Mary's.
"The girls got most of their serves over and got some really good bumps too," said assistant coach Sally Li. "But they just didn’t communicate enough. When they were losing, I saw that they were not shaking it off, which made them always think about it."
"I think the girls need to get in the habit of communicating better and not letting any balls drop. Maybe in the future they can learn to bump, set, spike. In the end, they lost to a team who could over-hand serve, spike and tip balls over."
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