Country Day’s girl’s varsity volleyball team ended the season by winning the league semi-finals 3-0, but losing the section finals 0-3. Although the team lost during section finals, this season was the third time ever that the varsity volleyball team has made it to championships in Country Day history.

“We haven’t won a league since 2017-18, so I feel like this is one of the most complete teams we’ve had.” coach Jason Kreps said. The team has seen a lot of growth throughout the season, with some players improving significantly, Kreps said. For the section playoffs, the team faced the Sacramento Adventist Capitals and started off the first set winning 25-6.

As far as how Kreps expected the game to go walking into the playoffs, he said that he was very confident with how much the team had been working, but going into the match would force the players to adjust to win game.
The Cavaliers took the lead from the first set, but the Capitals began to make a comeback during the second set.

“I knew they’d come back in the second game and we were behind for most of it,” Kreps said.
During that second set, Kreps called a timeout, allowing the team to re-evaluate the game ahead of them. Kreps pushed them to play smarter and faster on defense. The team responded accordingly, winning the second set as well.
Leading 2-0, the team kept up their game to win the final set. Improving from the previous set, the players on the court exhibited great communication, staying in sync to finish the match and win the semifinals, advancing to the finals. Still, despite the loss at finals, Kreps is proud of the team for the improvements they have made throughout the season.

“The girls play for each other, which is super fun to watch. They just love the game,” he said.

Although the team intends to return next year, it will be without seniors Haylee Holman, Sage Spradlin and Shakzoda Khojak-
nova.

“I’m really sad, but I’ve been at this school since pre-K so I feel like I’ll always have this place as a place to come back to,” Holman said.

However, Kreps is confident in the team’s future.
“I feel like we will still be super strong. Haylee will definitely be a hole to fill, but I feel like we have players ready to step into those positions” Kreps said.

By Sophia Monasa and Zema Nasirov

This story was originally published in the Nov. 16 issue of The Octagon