After suffering back-to-back losses, the volleyball team finds itself at a crossroads at the halfway mark of the season. CHS suffered a 3-0 loss to Gaithersburg Oct. 1 followed by a 3-1 loss to Wootton Oct. 5.

Gaithersburg quickly took out CHS, beating them in three straight games. During their match against Wootton, CHS came in to the game ready to play, quickly grabbing the first game, but Wootton followed up with the following two games to win the match. The team’s second half of the season kicked off with a bad loss to WJ Oct. 8, as the inexperienced Bulldogs lost every set.

“WJ was just a stronger team and they pretty much dominated every game,” junior Antonella Tellez said. “We didn’t really get our heads in to it until the last game, which was somewhat of a good game.

 As for Gaithersburg and Wootton, we just seemed tired and really unfocused.”
Despite the lack of energy early in the season, the team has resolved to change its general attitude, increasing the intensity of practices and increasing  motivation through pep talks from the captains.

“The real issue is that we’re low on energy,” senior captain Clara Sze said. “In the past two games, we definitely could’ve played better. We’ve been trying really hard but we’ve just been un-energized.”

Although the team has faced issues when it comes to pulling out wins, it remains positive about future matches. As the captains of a fairly inexperienced team, Sze and senior captain Kristie Moy have taken on the roles of team leaders seriously, helping the team get the most out of practices as well as trying to rally them and increase the overall spirit heading in to the next match.

“This team has some of the best attitudes I’ve ever seen,” coach Amanda Cook said. “They are all so supportive of each other, and I think that’s why we’ve remained positive all season.”
For now, the team is focused on reversing its streak of negative game results as it continues into the second half of the season.

“We are really at the midpoint of our season and this is a major turning point for us,” Moy said. “At this point, we either take off and start doing better or just continue to lose, and we are determined to start improving.”