On Thursday, Sep. 25, the Phoenix volleyball team lost against the Woodgrove Wolverines 3-0, and, despite a close final set, the Wolverines won all three sets played. “Our season’s been really rough,” sophomore setter Siri Patel said. “We’re a smaller team height-wise and even age-wise, but at the end of the day, volleyball is a sport that everyone’s here [for] because they love playing.” 

The first set started off with the Wolverines taking an early lead, 5-11. As the round progressed, the Wolverines were able to keep their lead against the Phoenix. By the final moments of the set, the Wolverines were able to comfortably gain a heavy lead on the Phoenix, leading them to win the opener 15-25.

While the freshman and junior varsity volleyball players cheered on the sidelines, the Phoenix began scoring in the second set with energy. The set started with both teams tied; however, the Wolverines incrementally increased their lead. Midway through the second set, the Wolverines were able to gain another strong lead on the Phoenix, leading them to win the second set. “I think that [in the next game] if they play as well as they did [in the last set] and don’t come off on a slow start, we’ll be a lot more successful and be able to capitalize earlier into the game,” Phoenix varsity volleyball coach Maddy Anderson said. 

The third and final set started strong with the Phoenix energy up, and was by far the most competitive of the night. “Honestly, the high that you feel when the whole team is up and [when] you’re ahead of the other team and there’s just a really nice vibe on the court makes us feel really connected like everyone’s moving together,” sophomore outside hitter Zunairah Hasan said.  

Despite the Wolverine’s strong defense, the Phoenix were able to string together consecutive points in the final set. As the Phoenix continued this trend, they  jumped out to a significant lead. In the final moments of the game, the Wolverines, however,  regained momentum and closed out the set leading 24-26, securing their 3-0 win. 

“Our team did pretty well on picking themselves up in the last few sets, but our team has a problem of  having slow starts and not really locking on to serve, receive, or defense towards the beginning,” Hasan said.“Towards the end, [however], we picked ourselves up and were able to close the last set pretty close.” 

The next Phoenix girls volleyball game is on Oct. 7 against the Broad Run Spartans.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Divitha Mathe

The Phoenix girls volleyball team huddles together before the first set starts. “Everyones [is] here because they love playing,” sophomore Siri Patel said. “Yes, we lose, [and] it can be a bad loss or a close game, but even then you have to remember why you're on the team and why you chose to play the game, and it's because you have fun playing it.”