On Friday, Oct. 7, the freshman volleyball team fell to the McNeil Mavericks with a score of 1-2 in the annual Dig for the Cure game. Pink ribbons and balloons adorned the stands and members of both teams donned the symbolic color to raise awareness for breast cancer. Raffle tickets, food, and T-shirts were sold, with all proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Resource Center.

The first set started out close, with strong defensive play from Abby Brueck ‘20. However, the Mavericks soon began to pull away, leaving the Lady Warriors trailing eight points behind with 8-16. A combination of powerful hits from Lucero Cabral ‘20 and Taylor Carson ‘20 brought the team up 14-16, eventually tying with the Mavericks 24-24. The athletes remained calm under pressure, with serves from libero Sara Sayyar ‘20 leading them to a victory in the first set, finishing with a score of 26-24.

The Lady Warriors took the lead in the second set, but were unable to stay ahead for the rest of the set, eventually falling 16-25.

“We gave it our all, and we left it on the court,” Carson said. “As a team, I think we need to communicate more and pass better, and we’ll be really good in the future. Our serves weren’t as good as they usually were, and that’s probably why we lost this game.”

The Mavericks pulled ahead in the final set, but with consistent serves from Kate Jernigan ‘20, the Lady Warriors were able to catch up, with a score of 12-13. Despite their best efforts, the team was ultimately defeated 16-25.

“The girls have been working really hard in practice since the end of July in team camp,” freshman coach Malcolm Framjee said. “Our goals are just to be consistent, we do a lot of things well but we’re young, we’re all freshman. The highlight of the game was just seeing young players who continue to work on things every week, continue to get better, and execute them in the game, which is great to see.”

The freshman volleyball team will face the Cedar Ridge Raiders in a home game on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m..