On Friday, Sept 15, the JV Orange volleyball team lost to Round Rock being swept 2-0. Even with a quick lead in the first set from the Warriors, Round Rock quickly caught up and slowly edged them out, taking control of the rest of the game.
The Warriors played confidently, giving it their best shot in every potential kill, but came up a little short, failing to stop the Dragon offense, and losing the set in the end 25-12. After halftime and a meeting with their coach, the Warriors saw a huge improvement in their offensive pressure in the second set, keeping the set close with a score of 25-20.
“I think this game, we were really aggressive,“ Dhiya Balajee ‘26 said. “We went for every single ball and our digging was on fire. At the end, we had a little bit of a lull and let them take off on us, getting so many points and serves.”
The Warriors started the first set off with a commanding 5-0 lead, but with a missed shot, the ball went to Round Rock. With a quick back-and-forth in the beginning, the score went to 6-2 and the gap continued to close with Round Rock slowly pulling ahead. After each missed point, the Warriors met in the middle to talk about the mistakes and get their head back in the game. It wouldn’t prove enough however as the Dragons completed the comeback and took the game.
“[After] bad points, we always make it a point to go to the middle and talk about things,” Sadie Hill ‘26 said. “Even if the game is still going, we go to just get it out of our heads and talk about things we want to improve on.”
Although the team wasn’t able to beat Round Rock, the players continued to make noteworthy plays. In the second set, Chloe Paddock ‘25 made an impressive dive breaking Round Rock’s scoring streak of seven points. The Lady Warriors took this opportunity to close the gap bringing the second set to 7-4. Both varsity coach Madison Smith and JV Orange coach Brissa Ochoa stood up to applaud the play.s
“I’m going to celebrate the bigger points like something that’s unexpected or like an emergency play, “ Coach Ochoa said. “I’m pretty intense so if they score a point, I’m happy but I’m going to recognize plays with tons of digs or plays with athletic movement.”
Losing no hope from the loss, the team is looking forward to the rest of the season and hopefully beating Round Rock in their next meeting later this season.
“We always play a team twice, “ Coach Ochoa said. “The idea is that we beat [them] and improve our very next game against the same team.”
The Warriors will play their next home game against Stony Point on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 5:30 p.m.
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The Lady Warriors high five the Dragons after their 2-0 loss, showing good sportsmanship. The Lady Warriors played their only home game versus the Dragons and will travel to Round Rock High School when the two clash later this season.
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Dhiya Balajee ’26 gets ready to serve the ball during the second set. The Lady Warrior offense picked up some steam in the second set keeping the score close.
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Hallie White ’26 warms up with the rest of the team, hitting the ball over the net. The Lady Warriors practiced good warm up habits so the same intensity could be used during the game.
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Cara Weinstein ’26 gets ready to receive the ball from the Dragons. The Warriors were anxious to get back in the game after the first set.
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![fiercely swinging, Harper Zoll '25 catches air as she jumped off the ground to get a better angle to hit. Zoll works outside of practice to prepare for aiming her hits during games. "We watch film to watch and learn [the other teams] tendency's, where they like to stand, and who likes to play where so I can prepare for next days game," Zoll said.](https://westwoodhorizon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-09-24_VarsityvballvsStoney_IsabelleHoronzy-26-1200x674.jpg)
