On Tuesday, Oct 8, despite a strong start, the Berkley Varsity Girls Volleyball team lost their match against Oxford High School by a score of 2-3. Berkley High is known for its competitive and fiery competition between rival school Oxford. This game was particularly important for Berkley’s girls’ volleyball team as they faced the undefeated Oxford team. After many great sets, from passing to spiking, the Berkley girls left with a sad loss, losing three sets and winning two. Despite their defeat, the girls played well by demonstrating great sportsmanship, confidence, and communication to get them through the game.

Seniors Alana White, Gretchen Stief, and Norah Eyler, members of the Berkley volleyball team, gave their thoughts on the game, discussing how they believed they persisted throughout their plays and how the game went for them individually and as a team.

Eyler, a senior and captain of the team, attributed the early set wins to the team’s communication. Eyler says, “I believe we won those two sets not because of how good we played, but because of communication.” White adds on by saying, “We focused on our play individually and performance (as a group).”

Throughout the game White was excelling in her spikes as well as junior Evelyn Watts, making it one of the first set highlights of winning the first two sets. Getting closer to the end of the game, the Bears started to lose ground. Steif comments on this saying, “I feel like we were too focused on the other team’s plays, and got too cocky because we won the first two sets.” Commenting on what Oxford was doing well Steif said, “Oxford was winning the sets because they kept targeting our open spots, and again, we were too in our heads because of our win with the last two sets, and that interfered with the last three remaining sets.”

Despite this loss, Coach Dakota Stanichuk had nothing but positive feedback for her players. “I was pleased with how they played the first two sets, and I believe we could have ended the game on a better note. If they continue to play like they did during the first two sets, we can win the rest of our upcoming games,” Stanichuk states.

At the time of this publication, the team is 19-22-1 overall, and 3-3 in their league.