8th grade physically dominated on boards, lose by 3

You can't win if you can't rebound. The 8th grade did not rebound, therefore the 8th grade lost.

The final score was 30-27.

In their first game of the regular season, the 8th grade was a step slow to the ball, did not box out, and were outworked.

If not for a 10-0 run in the last two minutes and change, the margin of defeat would've been in the double digits.

What makes this a little more frustrating is their lack of energy in the first three quarters, and their station to station approach.

Besides Justin, nobody did anything until the final few minutes of the game. And by then, it was way too late.

Justin had 8 of the team's 11 points in the first half and finished with a game high 12 points.

Down 30-17 with a little over two minutes to play, Brendan hit a free throw, which preceded back-to-back 3 pointers by Daniel and Moises, which cut the lead to 30-23.

After Justin hit a field goal, the 8th grade got the back back down five. Moises was fouled and went to the line for a 1-in-1 with 2.1 seconds left and hit both, trimming the deficit to 3 points. But there wasn't enough time on the clock as the other team ran out the clock and escaped with a win.

Although not the end of the world, this was a game the 8th grade needed to win, because their opponent is not considered one of the better teams in the division. In an eight game season, every win or loss can make or break the season. So it'll be an uphill climb starting with their next game in about a week.

Uphill was how the 8th grade had to play all night because they couldn't rebound.

They went into the 2nd quarter tied at 7-7, but it was the hustle points that put the 8th grade behind 14-11 at halftime.

The lack of rebounds continued to torment them in the 3rd quarter when the other team stretched their lead out to 9 points.

Collectively, every player on the court did not come up with a crucial loose ball or a big rebound when they needed it. The second chance points really did the 8th grade in Friday night.

Height wise, they are not a big team, but they do have some strong bodies down low. Both Brendan and Daniel are more than capable of being physical. Brandon K. and Moises both have decent height, but none of them are willing to commit to getting a body on someone and get the ball at all costs.

There was a player on the other team that was committed and he was the difference in the game. #34 was flying everywhere and seemed to chase down rebound after rebound. He too played the bulk of the game, if not the entire 28 minutes, but still looked fresh during crunch time.

Midway through the third, the 8th graders looked battered and tired.

Offensively, they are going to need more production from everybody but most notably Daniel, who was held to 1 point until he hit his three late in the game.

Brandon Tom, who hit a few big shots in the tournament was held scoreless.

Brandon K. missed two wide open lay-ups and Brendan also missed a shot right by the basket off a nice feed from Justin. All those missed opportunities loom large, especially when a team loses by three.

Brendan hustled for all four quarters but because he moves so awkwardly on the court, he only came up with the ball a few times. His balance is not very good and he tumbles all over the gym floor on a game to game basis. If he can control his body a little more, he'll be extremely valuable to the team, which needs as many possessions in a game that it can get.

There are only 6 players on the team currently, and their head coach James will not be with the team for the first three games. He is overseas in Asia.

7th Grade Girls Soccer Schedule

Boys Tournament Highlights 2012

Boys Basketball Schedules

Below are the basketball schedules for the boys season, they are subject to change. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge. UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28!!!

4th Grade

5th/6th Grade

6th Grade

7th Grade DMA

7th Grade

8th Grade

Happy Birthday Brandon

See, I remembered...



Last year's video:



And the year before:

4th grade drops second straight

The 4th grade lost 26-13 in their 3rd place game for the CYO Preseason Tournament.

It was a good distribution in scoring as Nathan scored 6 points and Calvin had 4 points. Brendan added 3 points.

6th grade takes consolation crown

Every player on the 6th grade boys basketball team scored as Jonathan and Jason L. combined for 30 points in their 42-8 win Saturday in the Consolation Championship of the CYO Preseason Tournament.

Justin, Ryan, Jason H., and Allen all hit field goals in the lopsided victory.

At one point in the game, it was 20-0 and then 30-3 at halftime.

The 6th grade overmatched the other team from start to finish.

Jonathan had a game high 16 points and Jason L. trailed him by only a basket with 14 points.

Michael added 4 points.

It was a good two bounce back games for the 6th grade after dropping a heartbreaker in game one of the tournament.

7th grade comes up short in final round shootout

The good news for the 7th grade boys basketball team, every one of their seven players scored on Saturday.

The bad news, only one of them made a shot in the 4th quarter when it mattered the most.

Nursing a 31-28 lead after three quarters of play, the boys hit just one field goal in the final seven minutes of the game and lost 36-33 in the 3rd place game of the CYO preseason tournament.

This game was back and forth from the beginning as both teams were shooting out of their minds, especially in the 1st quarter.

Willard had a career high 8 points and hit two 3 pointers in the 1st quarter, but did not score after that as the two teams went into the 2nd quarter tied 12-12.

After being held scoreless Wednesday night, Raymond bounced back with a team high 9 points.

The other team did not have much going on inside, but they were launching from the perimeter and hitting. At times they were left wide open around the arc and were pretty consistent in hitting their shots.

Every time the 7th grade would hit a big shot, the other team would come right back and do the same, which made for a very entertaining contest.

But what was entertaining for the crowd was equally as frustrating for the team.

Down 34-33 with less than two minutes to go, the 7th grade had numerous opportunities to go in front, but instead took low percentage shots and turned the ball over.

"We decided to shoot the worst shots, throwing up (prayers) when we still had plenty of time on the clock," said coach Elliot Wong.

"We had plenty of opportunities to win a game that should have been won, but we just couldn't capitalize when it mattered the most."

From the free throw line, Raymond was more than solid, as he went 5-6. The same can't be said for the rest of the players on the team who went a combined 2-6.

Ryan, Garrick and The Twins are all great hustle type players when it comes to getting to balls by the basket. But they all have the same problem in that they can't score like forwards and centers should down in the post.

All of their shots are fundamentally flawed and when they are around the basket, the shots taken look borderline offensive as they sometimes fail to even hit rim, and in some cases throw it over the backboard.

The good thing is they are getting the opportunities. But sooner or later they have to finish.

One of the nicest plays of the game was when Jason Ng ran the 2-on-1 fast break to perfection when he fed Joseph on a pretty pass which resulted in an easy lay-in.

8th grade clings on to win third place

Despite turning the ball over 10 times in the first quarter, the 8th grade boys held a 10-0 lead after one and extended it to a 14 point lead by halftime.

However, the other team would not go down without a fight.

One basket at a time, they slowly chipped away the 8th grade's lead and cut the lead to as little as three points with less than a minute left to go. That's when Moises went two for two from the line to extend their lead to 5.

The 8th graders went on to win 41-35.

After an atrocious free throw percentage heading into the third game of the preseason tournament,  they rebounded well and shot 7-11 as a team. 

Justin, who declined to talk to the media after the game, had a game high of 13 points, but was plagued by turnovers in the 1st quarter. He did settle down as the game went on and was much more secure with the basketball.

Brandon K. had one of his best games in recent memory and scored 6 points points in the second quarter alone which really swung the momentum in favor of the 8th graders.

Brendan also had a nice performance and scored 6 points.

With today's win, the 8th grade takes third place in the preseason tournament.

They are the only St. Mary's team up until this point to win the first and last game of the tournament.

Correspondent Emily contributed to this report.

Saturday Tourney Recap

The 8th grade boys' 14 point lead at the half was cut to four in the last few minutes of a game that exhibited way too many turnovers. However, they did cling on to win 41-35, taking third place in the preseason tournament.

The 6th grade took the consolation crown in their tournament with a dominating 42-8 win. Jonathan had a game high 16 points.

And the 7th grade fell just short in a 36-33 loss for third place in their tournament.

Full recap to come later today.

Friday gets black for 8th grade

The 8th grade boys basketball team had to play catch up the entire night and lost 38-29 in the second round of the CYO preseason tournament.

Their loss after winning Tuesday night puts them in the 3rd place game Saturday morning at 11 a.m. The game will be played at Mission Dolores.

What really hurt the boys more than anything else was their inability to grab rebounds. At best, they were way below average when it came to getting boards. They are a bit undersized as they are still playing without Christian and it's unknown at this time whether he will rejoin the team.

But as Leslie likes to point out it doesn't matter how small or big you are, but as long as you box out, you can grab the rebounds. Problem is, the 8th graders did none of that.

Brandon K., Brendan, Moises, Daniel all had difficulties controlling the glass down low and it led to so many easy buckets for the other team.

Another glaring problem is their stamina which is going to be tested game in and game out since they currently only have 6 players on the team.

Their press can work at times, but as the game gets longer, they start running out of gas and are susceptible to not getting back when they press, which is exactly what happened tonight.

Even when they weren't pressing, they had trouble retreating on defense. By the middle of the 3rd quarter when the other team had stretched their lead out to 12, the 8th grade looked gassed.

Justin, who had a team high 14 points, had a better game scoring wise and hit two 3 pointers, but turned the ball over a few too many times. He's also had trouble finding his stroke from the free throw line where he is normally very reliable. He is 0-for-5 so far in the tournament.

Brandon Tom hit a three for the second consecutive game and scored 5 points.

City Football Championship

Lincoln vs Mission....It all came down to this!

5th/6th volleyball grade post mortem

Seems so long ago, and this post probably should've came a week or two earlier, but better late than never.

What went wrong for the 5th/6th grade?

For starters, a team that served so well in the regular season did not serve well in the playoff game.

I look back to one point in the first set when the girls were up 10-7 and Kaela was on serve. Right there, I thought was the chance the girls had to really pull away in the first set and take it.

Unfortunately Kaela faulted.

That's not to place the blame on Kaela alone, because every girl on the team I believe faulted at least once if not more.

In the younger grades, especially when you are playing in games that could make or break you, half or even more than half the battle is mental. The girls were clearly rattled.

Whoever won that first set, was likely going to win the match, so when the 5th/6th graders loss, it was a steep climb from there.

The second set was a disaster from the start and the girls dug too deep a hole.

Had they won the first set, I think they would've won the game. The other team needed the first set as bad as the St. Mary's girls.

When these two teams played in the regular season, a handful of girls on the other team were in tears after the game.

So if they had lost the first set, doubt would've began to creep in, and the night would've belonged to the 5th/6th graders.

Where this game was lost might've come even before the playoff game.

The last game of the regular season, the girls lost in one set, because the first set was forfeited. They could've, should've beaten that team. But they didn't.

Problem again...the serving.

There were also a few balls that hit  no man's land late in the set too, but since they lost that game, they were forced to play the No. 1 team as a No. 4 seed.

With that being said, Cornerstone, the only team that beat the girls in the regular season besides the last game of the year, won the championship.

So then again, who knows how that would've played out?

Naomi and Emily, both in the 5th grade were huge to this team. I will always remember Naomi diving to save that ball against Mission Dolores during the regular season. Her lefty serves show shades of Isabelle.

And Emily, very powerful, but she just needs to be more accurate. She is similar to a relief pitcher who throws gas but has no control.

And because the girls from DeMarillac say I don't mention them enough on the blog, I will here in closing.

Britney, Vivianna, Katrina and Shelvy were all really good players in their first year.

I've seen a lot of 6th graders start volleyball and even some 6th graders play volleyball who have been playing for a few years and I think as a whole, these four are the best bunch I've come across in the five year history of volleyball.

One thing they could definitely work on is their confidence.

Following the 7th/8th grade championship, which Katrina and Vivianna attended, I said to them, "That's going to be you someday."

They both shook their heads in fear.

I sincerely believed what I said, and now it's time for them to believe it too.

Wednesday Night Tournament Recap

The 6th graders bounced back from their loss in round one with a 34-17 victory.

Jason Lei had a career high of 20 points in the win and Jonathan played just three days after injuring himself and scored 6 points in three quarters of play.

Missed lay-ups were a theme in the game that kept the score somewhat close.

This was a game where even though the boys dominated, it felt like a game they should've won by a lot more.

No better example than Jason L. who struggled in the 3rd quarter on the offensive end, and he dropped 20 points in the game.

After an intense and close game Sunday, this game was a lot more relaxed and the tension wasn't as high.

With the win, they will go on to the Consolation Championship Game Saturday at CYO Serramonte. Tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m.

4th grade beaten in round two
Not so good news for the 4th grade who were beaten 23-3 after they won game one on Sunday.

It was a game coach Justin Lee described as a "David vs Goliath" with the other team playing the role of the latter.

Outmatched in every facet of the game, the 4th grade was limited to what it could do on both ends of the court.

They will conclude the tournament Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. from CYO Serramonte.

6th/7th Grade Soccer Post-Mortem

The 6th/7th grade soccer team, Championship Game runner-ups

All but three kids in the picture above had ever won a single CYO soccer game coming into this year. In the big picture, what a great season. They made it to the championship game and fell just a bit short.

Why did they fall short?

Simple. They didn't score.

Not that they were a juggernaut when it came to putting balls in the net, but at least they did so on a more frequent basis during the regular season.

They were shutout twice in the regular season, once by SVDP, a 5-0 drubbing, and then a 2-0 scrimmage loss to St. Charles.

In the playoffs, they combined to score one goal, on what most would say on a goal that the opposing goalie completely butchered.

However, in that game, the boys controlled the attack zone and had numerous scoring opportunities.

The same cannot be said of the championship where they had minimal chances and when they did have the shot, they missed.

From top to bottom, not one unit played well.

The forwards up front didn't score.

The mid-fielders could not keep the ball in front of them or move it up to the forwards when they had the chance.

And the defense had breakdowns that are inexcusable.

Goal #1 should've never been a goal. One player on the other team was able to fight off two or three defenders into the corner. On the cross to the middle, the goalie should've taken charge and just caught that ball. And then lastly, the defender there shouldn't have used his hand to knock it into the net.

Goal #2 was just a breakdown on many levels. The ball went by the midfielders and defenders way too easily and set up a 2-0 against the goalie, and the score became 2-0.

Goal #3 should've never happened. On a goal kick, instead of sending the ball forward or cradling it, the St. Mary's player ducked like he was afraid of the ball. The other team took advantage and basically sealed the game.


Let's get to some positives of the season.

All the St. Mary's kids dramatically improved.

It helps when they don't have to be counted on to score goals and do too much.

Ryan, Jason and Garrick all played their best seasons on defense and mid-field. The Twins became legitimate threats to score goals, and Raymond notched his second goal of his career.

Alan tied Eloy for the most goals in a season and will likely have the record for most soccer goals in a career by the time he graduates in two years. And his supporting cast from DMA, Jaime, Jeffrey and Julian all had real solid rookie seasons.

Andre, who joined the team this year, scored a goal late in the season and proved that he could be a scorer, while Dante anchored the defense like he did last year.

Nick threw his weight around like normal and Oscar developed into a pretty steady goalie.

All in all, a very successful season where we saw the development of everybody on the roster.


However, this one is going to sting, because there is no guarantee that the team will get back to this spot next year.


With a championship berth, it means going up a division. And in soccer, going up a division is night and day. The teams they played in the playoffs will most likely be the easy part of their schedule.

Also, where do these players go?

With five players from the 7th/8th grade joining this team next season, will this be a team of close to 20 players, or will the 6th graders have enough players to form their own team?

Lots of questions in the off-season for soccer, because this team may have played their final game together.

Tuesday Night Tournament Results

The 8th grade squandered a 9 point second half lead, but managed to pull away in the final two minutes of the game when they went on a 10-2 run. They won by a final score of 37-29.

Daniel and Brandon Tom hit back-to-back 3-pointers which stretched their lead out to 6 points. The two before mentioned 8th graders both hit two 3-balls in the game.

Moises made his basketball debut with the 8th grade after playing on last year's 8th grade team, and experienced his first ever basketball win as he had 10 points, trailing only Daniel who had a high score of 13 points.

All six players on the 8th grade scored.

They will play Friday night at 8 p.m. from Mission Dolores in the winner's bracket.

7th grade blown out in loss

Raymond was held scoreless and the 7th grade was beaten decisively 34-7 in round two of the preseason tournament.

Jason Ng led the team with 6 points and one of The Twins hit a free throw to complete the scoring.

They were never in the game, and will move on to the 3rd place game, 1 p.m. on Saturday at Epiphany.

Hi, it's 1 a.m and I'm blogging

It's been a long time since I have been able to just sit down and blog and pontificate on everything.

Right now, it is currently 12:55 a.m. on Tuesday morning and by the time I post this, it will be after 1 a.m. - hence the blog post title.

I am watching WWE Raw on my DVR as I am digesting two pizzas and a cherry 7-up.

Ok, onto some St. Mary's Athletics matters.

What an incredible night it was Friday night to see our 7th/8th grade hoist the first place trophy by winning the volleyball championship.

Unofficially, I think the last one our school won was in 2003, 9 years ago.

We brought volleyball back in 2008, so to finally come through with a win was so gratifying.

This was the third time a volleyball team made a championship game, but the first team that broke through.

One thing I was afraid of was that the girls would be too excited or just happy to have made the championship, which I think a lot of teams suffer from. Maybe maybe, or perhaps that was what happened to the soccer team, but I was definitely worried the girls might've thought that way.

Sometimes mentally you say, "It's okay if we lose cause we made it this far."

No, not true. If you have that mentality, you are destined to be 2nd place.

By watching the girls perform on the big stage, you didn't get that feeling. They wanted it. Not only did they talk a good game, but they walked it.

Enough about them.

Quick note about soccer. The other team was probably just the better team. Could the 6th/7th graders have won that game? Yes. But they needed to play well, and I think they probably played a little below average at best. Not awful, but way too many mistakes in a championship game to say that they should've won. More on that game later this week.

Now, it's going to be a busy week and it will be post after post after post. What should you do? Sit there and read every single word, and watch every single video, starting with this one.



So, I will do my best to dedicate more time to the blog and come up with new things for you to read, or watch or maybe even listen to...

And it will start Tuesday night with the 6th/7th grade soccer team post-mortem where we look at what went wrong in the championship game and then reflect on the entire season.

I will do the same for all of our teams in the upcoming week, and then next week, we will preview every single basketball team leading up to their first games next weekend.

The tentative schedule:

TUESDAY - 6th/7th grade soccer post-mortem
WEDNESDAY - 5th/6th grade volleyball post-mortem

And adding to that, we'll have recaps of all the tournament games, as well as other surprises.

So until then...

Bryan is spelled with a Y.

4th graders coast to round one win

Brendan and Nathan combined to score all the points in the 4th grade boys' 19-5 first round tournament win.

Their next game will be Wednesday night at 7 p.m. also emanating from CYO Serramonte.

7th grade beneficiary of a forfeit win

The 7th grade boys basketball team won via forfeit and then won a scrimmage game after that 24-22.

Five of the team's eight players were coming off the soccer loss yesterday so the team has yet to have real consistent practices.

They had a brief shoot-around and walk through this morning.

Their next game will be Tuesday at Epiphany with tip-off at 7 p.m.

6th grade blows big lead, loses by one

Better to blow a 15 point lead in a tournament game than a regular season or playoff game right? Well, that's the way the 6th grade boys will have to look at it.

In a rematch of last year's championship, the 6th grade boys basketball had an epic meltdown and blew a 27-12 halftime lead and lost in the final seconds of their first round tournament 40-39.

Their championship last year, also a one point loss.

For everything that went right in the first half, it went wrong in the second.

The boys were hitting threes, playing great defense, making lay-ups and free throws in the first 12 minutes of the game. In the final 12, they did none of that.

Adding injury to insult, Jonathan dove for a ball with about 15 seconds left in the game and injured his knee, which forced him to leave the game. He is listed as day-to-day.

Without him, the team was unable to hold their one point lead, as the other team scored with less than 10 seconds left to take the lead.

Off the inbounds, Michael turned the ball over when he threw a pass towards Allen who was clearly making his way downcourt and not expecting a pass. And that was the ballgame.

After putting up 27 points in the first two quarters, the 6th grade was held to 12 in the second half, but a more glaring 2 points in the 3rd quarter when they were thrown around by the other team, which outscored them 17-2.

Their opponent took the lead in the fourth, but the 6th graders showing some fightback came back and retook the lead in the final minutes of the game.

But their inability to hit free throws to make it a two possession ballgame did them in at the end.

The normally steady Jonathan went 3-for-6 from the line in the fourth, and Jason H. went 0-for-3.

As the game grew longer, the 6th grade boys got slower, and the man-to-man defense that was so stifling early on had slowly dissipated.

On the game winning shot, the other team's point guard easily got into the paint where nobody was there to defend a shot, and the push shot fell through.

The point guard on the other team who had looked frustrated in the first half, picked apart the defense at will in quarters three and four.

Jonathan, who had 14 points, including three 3 pointers, started the game off with a shot from long distance. Michael also two three balls in the first half for 6 of his 8 points.

Jason Lei went for 13 points and Allen scored the first 2 points in his St. Mary's career.

But all those offensive numbers are rendered meaningless when a team that is going to contend for another championship squanders a 15 point lead.

All the cliches that the team got too complacent, took their foot off the gas, and began to relax are all applicable for this game.

But again, this is game one of a preseason tournament, and not a championship.

6th/7th grade soccer team shutout in championship

The 6th/7th grade soccer team picked a bad time to stop scoring goals, as they were shutout 3-0 in Saturday's championship game at Silver Terrace.

With the sun peeking through some of the rain clouds, the team was unable to find the back of the net and only scored one goal in their two post-season games.

Even the goal they scored was a fortunate break as Thomas' goal in the playoff game literally trickled in slowly past the other team's goalie, who misplayed the ball in the worst way.

On Saturday, it was the other way around as two of the three goals could not be explained, other than the fact they were careless and should not have happened.

Goal one really seemed to dampen the team's spirit, as only one player from the other team was in the box. Ryan K. angled him to the corner, but could not take the ball away as the opposing player just centered the ball towards the goal.

Out of position, the ball went off of Raymond and caromed into the net, and the 6th/7th graders never recovered.

A defensive breakdown led to the second goal, which put them behind 2-0 at the half.

But the backbreaker came in the first minute of the 3rd quarter. Off of a goal kick, a ball sailed towards midfield where a St. Mary's player had a chance to either let it drop, or field it, and play it. Instead, he ducked, looking like he was scared of the ball and the other team teed up and launched a pop-up towards Oscar.

Looking like he was fighting the sun, he misplayed it and the ball bounced into the net, and the game was pretty much over from there.

From top to bottom, the execution just wasn't there.

The other team did dominate the bulk of the attack zone time, but the 6th/7th graders did have their chances.

Their best came when they had a chance to take the leadearly in the first when Julian had a point blank shot in front of the goalie. But he didn't get all of the ball and his shot went right to the goalkeeper and it remained scoreless.

Alan had a nice chance in the first half off of a nice pass from Julian, but he hesitated and was unable to get off a shot.

Before the game, Andre rallied the team and in Hunter Pence like fashion got the team fired up in a huddle. Their energy and effort was there but unfortunately the execution was a little bit off.

And there are times, this being one of them, that you have to tip your hat to the other team, as they outplayed the 6th/7th grade in the biggest game of the year.

A lot of the problems that were apparent Saturday were reminiscent of their growing pains from year's past.

Many whiffs and inability to control the ball, rushing when they didn't have to, and taking their time when they had none. Those mistakes can be made during the season, but definitely not the title game.

Putting this game aside, the team had a very successful season and just missed the opportunity they had in the championship.

The bulk of this team was part of a squad that lost six times last season and tied twice. All of the St. Mary's players had never won a soccer game until the season opener earlier this season.

It was a season of firsts as Thomas, Alan and Jaime all scored their first CYO goals.

Everyone also got to see the progression of many of the players on the team such as both Ryans, Jason, Garrick and The Twins, who all brought their games to another level.

Unfortunately, the success of this season will be short lived as a championship appearance will almost but guarantee them a bump up into the second division for their 8th grade year, which will be a daunting task to say the least.

So the maturation process and progression will be key if they want to make their 8th grade year a memorable one.

7th/8th grade volleyball team wins the championship

The 7th/8th grade girls win the first volleyball championship for St. Mary's Athletics.

***Highlights Below***

It was a year ago when Cynthia and Isabella played in the 8th grade volleyball championship. They were a point away from winning it all when their team fell apart and the two ended up settling for second place.

But in their 8th grade year, they were determined that they would go out on top, and they did.

In their final game in a St. Mary's volleyball uniform, the two longest tenured 8th graders on the team played at their best and led the 7th/8th grade girls volleyball team to the school's first volleyball title in nearly a decade, a straight set 25-23, 25-15 victory over St. Brigid.

It was very fitting Isabella had the ball in her hands on championship point when she served one of her signature liners over the net that the other team could not handle, and the celebration began.

After forcing a side-out to start the second set, Isabella stepped up and served six straight balls over the net, and gave the 7th/8th graders a 7-0 lead. The lefty who had the game of her life was on a roll, mixing up her serves that barely sailed over the net, and then some lofty pop-ups into the back row.

The other team was clearly rattled and could never recover from that early deficit.

St. Brigid made a mini run and cut the lead to 19-13, but that's as close as they got.

Up 23-15, Cynthia placed a perfect ball into the back corner which hit the floor setting up championship point. Then Isabella's serve that hit off a St. Brigid hand sealed the title.

The core of this team played together in 4th/5th and 5th/6th grade and came out with only three wins in two years of play. Now, they are CYO volleyball champions.

In their regular season meetings. the two teams split, with St. Brigid winning the first game in straight sets, and St. Mary's winning the second game in three sets.

Both teams came ready to play and traded rallies and points for much of set one. The 7th/8th graders made some really nice volleys and bumps but St. Brigid, on more than a handful of occasions got to some balls that many thought they would have no chance of getting.

St. Mary's pulled away slowly in the first set and had a 20-15 lead before St. Brigid called a timeout. Then St. Brigid rallied off five straight points, tying the game at 20-20.

The 7th/8th graders scored four of the next five points and held a 24-21 lead, until St. Brigid scored two straight to make it 24-23.

On serve-receive, the other team bumped back an Edwena spike, which Isabella then bumped back over the net. St. Brigid hit it out of bounds and the first set belonged to St. Mary's.

Edwena was at her best and her volleyball instincts really showed in the second set. She was able to see the court well on several of her plays at the net, and was able to either set or spike the ball toward areas on the St. Brigid side that were left unoccupied.

Two of her signature plays of the game came in the second set, one on which she came out of nowhere to tap the ball over the net for a point. And then when she recognized that the other team had nobody by the net, she tipped the ball short for another point.

There were a lot of individual accolades, even though this victory was a total team effort.

Sisters Jamie and Tiffany who were playing volleyball for the first time this year contributed like they had been playing with the team all along.

Jamie's serves were so difficult to return and her quickness helped her get to a lot of balls that would've otherwise hit the floor.

Her older sister Tiffany, who is in 8th grade, was so consistent with her majestic serves which usually landed in the back row. Her serves caused havoc for the other team and pushed the girls out in front a little bit in the first set.

After not playing last year, Ivy returned and was one of the most improved girls on the team. Friday night she angled a lot of the third hits from tough spots on the court over the net and was also incredibly consistent on her serves.

Fiona and Victoria, both who have been playing since 4th grade, were near perfect when called upon. Victoria got to some really tough balls throughout the night and Fiona's spikes and overhand serves got the girls several key points.

And finally the glue that held everything together, Cynthia, who undoubtedly was the leader of this championship team.

It was Cynthia who really took her game to another level mid-season, and really made it a point to be the vocal one on the court. Everybody else on the team then followed her lead and it was so crucial in this magical season.

A lot of the little nuances of the game that Cynthia does so well, like keeping her arms straight on tough spikes, or putting the ball in the best spot for her teammates, are just as important as the big spikes and hard serves. The St. Mary's representative in the CYO Achievement Game played a near flawless game.

In the end, a team of five 7th graders in an 8th grade division went the distance and made St. Mary's Athletics history, on a night that will never be forgotten.

Isabella summed it up after the game in a matter of a few words.

"We ended it really nicely."

Championship Weekend

It is going to be exciting this weekend as the 7th/8th grade girls go for the volleyball championship at St. Emydius Friday night. Game time is 6:15 p.m.

Then Saturday, rain or shine, the 6th/7th grade soccer team goes for gold at Silver Terrace. Kickoff for the futbol championship is 1 p.m.

Then Sunday, a plethora of first round CYO Preseason Tournament games.

Action, jam packed weekend, hope to see everybody out there this weekend.

Soccer Playoff Highlights

Happy Birthday to The Shem

Today is the birthday of The Great Anthony Shem.

Now many are wondering about the status of Shem's Corner and his successor and here is an update.

Shem has filmed a few more bits that I will release on the blog hopefully in the next month or so and he will name his successor in 2013, where that 8th grader will take over and begin production over the second half of the school year.

So Happy Birthday to The Shem, enjoy some of his finest moments...

6th/7th grade gets the bounce they need, advance to championship

After several scoring opportunities where the 6th/7th grade could not cash in, the game winning goal was courtesy of what some would say a lucky bounce.

Thomas broke a scoreless tie in the 3rd quarter when he centered a ball towards the net, which eventually its way into the net, as the 6th/7th graders advanced to the championship with a 1-0 victory.

Andre missed on a golden opportunity in the 1st quarter and Alan missed two close ones in the first half as the 6th/7th grade really dominated the offensive attack zone for the bulk of the game.

They might've been fortunate to score a goal, but one way to look at it is that you have to create your own breaks, and their constant pressure did so.

Their defense had a decent game and even though they weren't at their sharpest, they did not yield a goal, which was the most important thing.

Oscar got the start in goal and recorded his second straight shutout.

This sets up next week's showdown in the championship against St. Charles, who upset the number one seed SVDP 2-0 in the game right before the 6th/7th grade.

The first time these two teams met was a scrimmage won by St. Charles 2-0. Since they didn't have enough players at game time, it goes down in the record books as a St. Mary's win.

What is for sure is that the boys will need to execute better than they did Saturday because St. Charles is a fast bunch.

Scoring on their chances is also going to be a must because it's unlikely that one goal is going to stand in a title game.

The Twins had an all around pretty solid game as they patrolled the midfield very well and kept the pressure on the other team's midfield and defense all game.

With them acting as a buffer in the middle, the other team has trouble generating any type of speed going into the attack zone.

The 6th/7th graders have come a long way as the majority of the players on the team were part of last year's team that was winless and tied twice.

This year they set a St. Mary's soccer record in wins during the regular season and will be playing for the championship next Saturday at Silver Terrace.

And now they'll need just one more win to cap off their storybook season.

7th/8th graders ousted in the playoffs

The 7th/8th grade lost their playoff game Saturday.

7th/8th grade coach Tommy stated the obvious Friday night when he said that he wanted his team to "score early" and then just play defense.

Unfortunately, he got just the opposite when the other team scored within a minute or two into the game and put the 7th/8th graders in a 1-0 hole.

The boys had a chance to tie it up midway through the first when Moises had a clean shot from the top of the box, but he hooked it a little bit wide of the net.

They did capitalize a little later on in the quarter when Christian picked off a goal kick and sped right towards the net, scoring his first ever playoff goal.

But that was the last goal the 7th/8th graders scored, and their season came to an end as they were defeated 4-1.

It was fitting that following the game that when the team posed for pictures, everybody on the team was wearing a red jersey.

On a soccer team, the goalie will wear a different colored shirt so that the referees can spot which player on the team is eligible to pick up the ball with his hands.

And even though the season is over, there was still no clear cut answer on who was the goalie for this team.

Matthew started the year between the posts, before giving away to Moises, who then gave way to Julian, who then stepped aside for Junaid. Even Brendan played goalie for a half when he was pressed into duty.

There was never a constant in goal and it led to everybody else on the field to shift positions.

Junaid was victimized on the eventual game winning goal when he was way too deep in his net.

Off a corner kick, he made a save but was inside goal line when he caught the ball.

What compounded it was the fact that if they had just held serve for another minute, the half would've ended in a 1-1 tie.

Disaster struck in the 3rd quarter when Christian collided with the other team's goalie. Both players were on the ground for a few minutes before eventually getting up and walking off on their own power.

A ball was sent towards the opposing team's net and Christian went all out for the ball, showing no fear whatsoever. And at full speed he blasted the goalie and hit him in the groin area, while Christian took a hard shot to the ribs.

It was a two goal swing since the other team took the ball right away and went down the field to stretch their lead to 3-1.

They added another in the 4th quarter to round out the scoring, and put away the 7th/8th graders.

Overall, it was a good season for the 7th/8th graders.

Like so many other St. Mary's teams, more than half of the roster comprised of players who were participating in soccer for the first time in their careers.

Time just wasn't on their side.

For some of the veterans who have played since 4th grade, they were able to sustain success in their final two years of soccer, after a pretty bitter first three years.

This team also has five 7th graders so they'll be back next year and with some experience under their belts, they should be primed and ready to get back to the same spot a year from now.

After the game, coaches Tommy and Derek announced that Brendan and Christian will represent St. Mary's in the CYO Achievement Game next Saturday.

Congratulations to them as well as the entire team for a hard fought season.

Soccer Playoff Results, 6th/7th grade going to the big dance

The 6th/7th graders are going to the championship.

Thomas broke a scoreless tie in the 3rd quarter and it was enough for the 6th/7th graders to get by Waldorf 1-0. They will face St. Charles in the championship next Saturday.

Not so good news for the 7th/8th graders who lost 4-1 in their playoff game.

The other team scored a late goal in the first half, and then put in two more in the second half to finish the job.

Christian scored the lone goal in the 1st quarter which at the time tied the game at 1-1.

Full recaps to come later tonight.

Volleyball Playoff Highlights

5th/6th grade girls eliminated from the playoffs

The 5th/6th graders just fell short in their playoff game Friday night.

The 5th/6th grade girls volleyball season came to a premature end Friday night as they were eliminated from the playoffs in straight sets 25-21, 25-18.

In both sets, the girls went through a stretch of points where they could not record any.

Up 10-8 in the first set, they had the opportunity to really take control of the match, but they faulted on a serve, a very familiar theme for the night.

From that point forward, the other team rattled off 6 straight points and put the 5th/6th graders behind 14-10.

There was nothing flashy, too difficult or overhand about the girl that was serving. She simply made good contact and the girls just could not break her serve.

However, the girls did make a furious comeback and had the momentum to seize set one. Down 22-21, Kaela hit a ball that appeared to be out of bounds, but after looking at the replay, the ball grazed the line, and should've been ruled in, not out. The other team caught a break and led by two.

Also not working in the 5th/6th grade's favor was the biggest girl on the other team, on more than one occasion, two-hit/lifted the ball. That infraction was only called once by the referee and in a 25-21 first set, each point was magnified.

In the second set, the girls were just flat from the start, and fell behind early 7-1.

Not much improved midway through the second set, and at one point they trailed 17-7. The game was all but over.

After breaking serve out of a timeout, the 5th/6th grade crept to within striking distance thanks to five straight serves by Britney, which cut the lead in half to 17-12.

They even got as close as 21-18, but at the end of the day, the 5th/6th graders just made too many little mistakes to overcome and were bounced from the playoffs.

What hurt the girls the most was what they were good at the entire year, serving. Karina, Shelvy and Britney were consistent for the most part on their serves, but everyone else failed to get into a groove.

Like their final game of the regular season, they had trouble putting together a string of points. And when they did, it was too little too late.

The girls really needed to win that first set because their spirits seemed to be a little dampened to start the second. The jitters were apparent and a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes were made.

Had they won the first set, we could possibly talking about a championship next Sunday.

In the end, their fairytale season ended a week too soon. With only Kaela having any prior volleyball experience, this team came together in a span of two shorts months and put together the best rookie season in St. Mary's volleyball history.

With two 5th graders in a 6th grade division, the girls were among the elite in their group and were bounced from the playoffs by a team that will most likely be hoisting the first place trophy.

The inexperience and big stage of the playoffs got to them a little bit in the second set, but a game like this should get them battle ready for plenty of big games that lie ahead in the future.

Only one team will ever be truly happy with the outcome of their season, the champion.

And there's no doubt that a game like this will motivate these talented girls to one day be that team, which finishes the season satisfied. 

7th/8th graders punch ticket to championship

The core group of girls that comprise of the 7th/8th grade girls volleyball team has played together for three years now and as a team, they combined to win three games total coming into this year.

After playing on separate teams last season, the class of 2013 and 2014 reunited for one final run at it, and could cap it off with a championship next Friday night after their straight set 25-21, 25-5 victory in Thursday night's playoff game at St. Emydius.

Their opponent, SAIC, put up a real good fight, at least in the first set, when both teams went back and forth until the 7th/8th graders pulled away towards the end.

It took seven straight serves from the hand of Tiffany in order for the girls to pull out a win in set one.

Trailing 21-18, the rookie to volleyball rallied seven straight points for the girls. Her serves have such a high arc that at times it is deceiving for other teams to read, which helps the team score a lot of points.

Tiffany picked up where she left off to start the second set and served the girls out to a 5-0 lead.

That was more than enough to build team confidence for the 7th/8th graders, and they ended up just dominating the second set 25-5, as the other team did not have a chance.

Overall, the girls didn't play bad in the first set as much as SAIC played well. The two teams met twice during the regular season but the improvement from both teams, and especially SAIC in the first set was  apparent.

Even when the St. Mary's girls hit solid serves and spikes, the other team found a way to respond and wouldn't go away.

However, the 7th/8th graders were patient, continued to play their game, not getting frustrating, and eventually wore SAIC down.

Leading 11-3, Jamie, Tiffany's sister served up eight straight which widened the game to 18-3 at one point.

The girls clinched their championship berth on match point when Edwena spiked a ball towards the other team, which they hit out of bounds.

For the second straight year, a St. Mary's 8th grade division team will be in the championship, and so will Isabella and Cynthia, who were both on the 7th/8th grade team last season.

They'll be looking for a different result this time around after losing a heartbreaker in last season's title game.

Barring an upset, the girls will play St. Brigid, who they beat last Friday in three sets. St. Brigid won the first meeting in two sets.

One thing the girls will need to have, more than anything else, is confidence. When they play with a purpose and some attitude, they are at their best, and the teams in their division can't touch them.

But if one or two things don't go their way, they have a tendency to make little mistakes, and lose focus, two things that cannot happen in the championship game.

It didn't happen at all in the second set as they played nearly flawless. They didn't do anything too fancy, but the bottom line was they played error free volleyball, and that's what it will take for them to bring home the first St. Mary's volleyball championship in more than a decade.

Final Regular Season Highlights

Playoff Schedules Released

Volleyball and soccer playoff schedules have been released.

On the volleyball side, the 5th/6th graders and 7th/8th graders will be in action on Thursday and Friday night at St. Emydius, with both games beginning at 7 p.m.

The 7th/8th grade girls get things going Thursday night against SAIC. St. Mary's won both meetings against SAIC this season, but had some trouble in their last meeting last Thursday. The match begins at 7 p.m.

Friday night, the 5th/6th graders will have to take out the number one team in their division again in order to punch their ticket to the championship. They will play Mission Dolores, who they beat in an epic three set thriller about 10 days ago.

Both soccer teams are in the playoffs for the first time in St. Mary's soccer history.

The 7th/8th grade will most likely face St. Paul Saturday in their playoff game Saturday at Crocker Amazon. The last time these two teams met, it was a 4-4 tie. St. Paul beat the 7th/8th graders earlier in the year when they were shorthanded the entire game. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.

As for the 6th/7th graders, they will play Waldorf Saturday at Silver Terrace. In the regular season, the two teams tied 1-1, as a result of a goal nullified in the final minutes by the referee. This will definitely be a tight game. The scheduled start time is 2 p.m. Saturday.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Thursday, November 8 - 7th/8th grade volleyball, 7 p.m. @ St. Emydius vs SAIC
Friday, November 9 - 5th/6th grade volleyball, 7 p.m. @ St. Emydius vs Mission Dolores
Saturday, November 10 - 7th/8th grade soccer, 11 a.m. @ Crocker Amazon vs St. Paul
Saturday, November 10 - 6th/7th grade soccer, 2 p.m. @ Silver Terrace vs Waldorf

Tall task ahead for the 5th/6th graders after loss

Playing without Kaela for the first time this season, the 5th/6th grade girls lost a little spring in their step, and eventually lost a crucial game which dropped them from a potential first seed in the playoffs to the fourth.

After forfeiting the first set because they had only five girls at game time, the 5th/6th graders lost set two 25-20.

In volleyball, when a team doesn't have enough players in time for the game, the first set is automatically lost. The team which forfeits the first set, in this case, the 5th/6th graders this morning, need to then win the second and third set in order to take the match.

Suffice to say, it did not happen.

However, it could've happened.

The game was tied 20-20, but the other team rattled off three straight points, including two balls that hit in the floor in between a player in the front row, and a player in the back row.

Overall, the 5th/6th grade girls (6-2) played a pretty solid game, but made far too many mistakes, mistakes they usually don't make.

Their serving, for one, was not at its best. Almost every girl had trouble consistently serving the ball over. Some girls who couldn't have served better on one serve, followed it up, by hitting the ball out of bounds or even into the stands.

Only one time the entire game did the girls string together three points at a time. They never built any sustained momentum and in the end it was costly.

Even without Kaela, who is their most experienced player, and someone the team looks to as their leader, they could've, and should've won the game.

Had their been another set, the girls probably could've outlasted the other team since the 5th/6th graders were a little flat to start the game.

It was a given as the team was thrown off by the first set forfeit.

Now, they will most likely have to go up against Mission Dolores, a team they beat on their home floor a little more than a week ago.

And for them to get to the championship, they'll have to do it again in the playoffs.

No matter how the seedings went, the girls were going to have to beat Mission Dolores if they wanted to win it all. Now they'll just need to do it a week earlier than planned.

They should have Kaela back, which should ease the nerves of the entire team.

The loss Saturday was also a first, because the 5th/6th grade girls lost for the first time, a game they let slip away.

They'll need to learn from their mistakes, and hopefully use this game to make them tougher, because the hard part has just begun.

3rd/4th graders battle hard in their final game

If there's one thing we've learned about the 3rd/4th grade girls after their first season of volleyball is that serving will not be an issue for years to come.

Avalon, Justina and Amy all hit their four serve limits, and the rest of the team followed suit and arguably had their best game serving, comparable to their victory a few weeks ago at CYO Serramonte.

On the contrary, we've also learned that the biggest need for improvement was their serve receive in Saturday's season finale where they lost 25-17, 25-20.

Many of their games, especially the ones down the stretch which could've gone either way, were lost because they were unable to return the ball off the other team's serve.

Some serves were probably too difficult to return, but there have been a good share that the girls could've returned and today was no different.

In all, they didn't return more than a handful of serves from the other team.

And when the 3rd/4th graders serve so well, they lose just as many points when they can't return the ball.

Aside from three of the girls on the team, the other five participated in their first CYO sport ever, which will be valuable experience not only this year, but for years to come.

Interestingly enough, they already have a leg up on some of the best volleyball players our school has produced, because many of them started in the later grades.

With 3rd and 4th grade being the foundation, their development will be quicker, and the progression from year to year will move along at a more rapid pace.

The girls fell behind early in the first set, but slowly climbed their way back into it before letting it slip away at the end.

Amy served them within a point of the lead in the second set at 18-17, but that's as close as it got.

In their final two games of the year, they improved their scores against teams that beat them decisively earlier in the season, so the progress in just a little under two months has been pretty drastic.

The eight girls who formed our youngest volleyball team in recent history went through some growing pains this year, but the future is extremely bright for these future stars.

Even with only 9 players, the 7th/8th grade refuses to lose, wins

Even with only 9 players, the 7th/8th grade soccer team did whatever it took to get a win in their regular season finale.

Playing without four players, who were inexcusably absent from the soccer field Saturday afternoon, the boys shutout their opponent 1-0 and secured the third seed in their division.

"They were able to buckle down and ignore the fact they had less players," said coach Derek Kwong. "Come game time, they were ready." 

Christian and Moises broke through in the 2nd quarter when Christian passed a ball to Moises, setting him up for a breakaway chance against the goalie. Moises came through and planted  the ball into the net for his 4th goal of the year, giving the 7th/8th graders a 1-0 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. 

Knowing they only had 9 players, the 7th/8th grade played a defensive game the rest of the way, clogging the defensive zone and not giving the other team any room to operate.

Their defense went into a complete shell in the 4th quarter, defending countless throw-ins in their own zone, and several corner kicks.

But the defenders such as Aaron, Brendan, Luis and Tyler, all won the little battles that needed to be had, and the 7th/8th grade came out on top.

Julian was in goal and recorded his first career shutout.

At (3-3-2), the 7th/8th grade will play the second seeded team in their division, which has still yet to be determined.

If all the right things fall into place, they will go up against a team which they tied against 4-4 just a few weeks ago. 

But they can't get away with only having the bare minimum and they'll need the strength of their entire team to get to the championship.

After three years of listless soccer, St. Mary's soccer teams have now made the playoffs in two consecutive years, an astonishing accomplishment.

This team lost its first two games and it had the makings of another ugly season out on the grass, or turf, but the team eventually started to click and they've played some real good soccer throughout the latter stages of the season.

Now it's onto the final four, where it's anybody's ballgame.

For a championship, it will take just two good ones.

Saturday Recap

With only 9 players, the 7th/8th grade soccer team picked up a much needed win that puts them in 3rd place going into the playoffs. Moises scored the only goal on a breakaway in the first half for the short-handed 7th/8th graders. They finish the season (3-3-2).

The 5th/6th grade girls had only five girls at game time and were forced to forfeit the first set. When they had 6 girls, they lost a close one 25-21, that dropped them from first to fourth place in their division. This was a game the girls could've won, but they fell just a bit short and finish the regular season (6-2).

Serve receive remained a huge problem for the 3rd/4th grade girls as they lost their final game of the year, 25-17, 25-20. Their serves were probably as strong as they've been all season but their returns were not on point. They do however wrap up the regular season with one win.

Full recaps to come later today.

Undefeated no more, 7th/8th grade takes down top team

The 7th/8th grade coaches were not happy to say the least after their team's performance Thursday night.

Despite winning in straight sets, the girls were lethargic, uninspired, and played like it was more of a chore than an opportunity. They looked lazy and lacked motivation, which was not the way they needed to play going into the showdown for first place Friday night.

And after losing the first set 25-19, the 7th/8th grade girls could've conceited defeat to the first place team, but they kept fighting.

In fact, they fought back so hard they dethroned the top team in the division, winning sets two and three, 25-23, 15-10, and handed the former first place team their first loss of the season.

Strangely, the girls weren't playing that badly in the first set, the other team was simply better. Even in the second set, the 7th/8th graders at one point were down 17-11 before they really got their game going.

Little by little, they started chipping away, stringing together points on serve receive and then scoring on their serves.

Isabella served a ball over when the team was down 19-17, getting a point, and forcing the other team to call a timeout, as the momentum began to shift.

Down 20-18, the girls pulled out a crucial point in one of the longest rallies of the night, with both teams making some real tough plays to keep the ball alive.

Victoria has been very consistent on her serves the last two games, putting balls deep in the back row. It was on her serve the girls took their first lead of the night at 21-20.

Many of the balls that the 7th/8th graders were unable to get over were directed at Victoria early in the first set. So she did a remarkable job putting it behind her and playing solid the rest of the way.

Same could be said for Ivy who had some bad bumps and passes early in the game, but as the game wore on, she was able to put on her best performance in a St. Mary's uniform, as she wasn't afraid to be aggressive and spike/hit the ball for some points.

Down 22-21, the girls caught a little break when Cynthia's spike clipped the top of the net and fell on the other side to even the score back at 22-22 a piece.

The team captain then stepped up and banged two straight serves over setting up set point when she erroneously served the ball out of bounds.

Just as the first set ended when Fiona faulted on her serve, the other team returned the favor serving the ball wide right, giving the 7th/8th grade girls the second set 25-23.

Cynthia served the girls out to a nice 4-0 lead, which proved to be the difference in the game. At one point the girls held a 6-1 lead, but they traded points with both teams faulting on serves.

On set point, Ivy returned a ball which was slicing towards the sideline which the other team couldn't handle. The ball was bumped out of bounds and the 7th/8th graders picked up their best win of the year.

This was the best game the girls have played all season and for many of the girls, their careers. They finish with a (7-1) record, and made history by having more wins than any other St. Mary's Athletics volleyball team in the regular season.

Up next is a playoff game against one of the two teams they beat twice, and then an eventual rematch against the team they played tonight.

Overall, it was a great team effort and the girls dug really deep, because this team has been known to have mental lapses, and issues with confidence when they aren't at their best.

So for them to shake off a bad start in the first set to come back and win against an undefeated team just shows how good these girls are, and can be.

Their coaches were pretty happy Friday night, and so was everyone else.

Briefly: Jerry Lee, Calson, Brett, Justin Khuu, Tiffy, were all in attendance at tonight's game...Cynthia will be representing St. Mary's in the CYO Achievement Game, 6 p.m. Monday night at St. Emydius...Her sisters Serina and Melinda, both did not show up to watch the fantastic match.

Coaches fume after the 7th/8th grade's latest performance

It's not often following a decisive win, at least on the scoreboard, that a team's coaches are furious with the way their team had performed.

But that was the case with the 7th/8th grade volleyball team's win Thursday night.

One coach even said that if tonight's performance translates to Friday night, the 7th/8th grade girls will "have no chance" in beating the top team in the division.

Besides a handful of girls, the bulk of the 7th/8th grade team sleepwalked through the entire game. If it wasn't for the opposition making mistakes, this would not have been a win.

The blame for the lack of motivation in tonight's game cannot be placed on the shoulders of Cynthia, who was named to the CYO Achievement Game earlier in the day.

She was the one person on the team trying to rally the troops, fire them up, play Hunter Pence of the team.

But her efforts fell on deaf ears as nobody followed her lead and instead let her do all the heavy lifting.

After winning the first set, the girls fell behind in the second set, and it took 10 saves from Victoria to bail out a lot of the bad mistakes the rest of the team made.

Aside from Victoria, Ivy and Cynthia, the coaches were not pleased with anybody else's performance.

They will need to shake their bad performance off and bring their best Friday night, because it will be one versus two in a battle of 1st and 2nd place. A win can force a tie-breaker for the division crown, while a loss will cement the 7th/8th graders in second place.

At (6-1), they have a chance to clinch the best St. Mary's volleyball regular season record in the school's modern history with a win.

But if Thursday night was any indication of how they perform Friday night, that record will not be broken.

Cynthia named to CYO Achievement Game

Cynthia, who has played volleyball since 5th grade at St. Mary's, was named to the CYO Achievement Game to represent St. Mary's.

In a game that showcases the top talent from every CYO school in San Francisco, Cynthia will join Olivia, Sally and Marissa as girls who have represented the school in this special game.

After coming up points short of a championship last season, Cynthia has improved her game and has led her team to a (6-1) record so far this season.

She has become a vocal leader that her teammates look to on the court for guidance.

The game will be played Monday night, 6 p.m. at St. Emydius.