The varsity volleyball team lost in the district tournament finals for the first time in five years against Falls Church High School on Oct. 20.
Volleyball head coach Michael
Carroll attributed the loss to the unfamiliar offense of their opponent.
“It is just the matter of things,” Carroll said. “This year we have teams in the district that are a bit tougher than they were in the past couple of years. Falls Church, specifically with the way they ran their offense, was something a little different than we were used to.”
Carroll said even though Falls Church used unexpected offensive tactics, the team will take advantage of their experience.
“We will learn from it and take advantage of [this experience] next year,” Carroll said.
Outside hitter and junior Isabelle Atkins said the loss was particularly difficult because of how unexpected it was.
“Right after [Falls Church scored] we heard Falls Church start cheering, it was sort of surreal,” Atkins said. “When it hit me it was super upsetting.”
Atkins said the loss frustrated her because she believes the team could beat Falls Church if they were to play each other again.
“Nothing was that different from the other times we have played [Falls Church] before,” Atkins said. “This is the part of what makes it so frustrating that we lost.”
Atkins said the loss was especially emotional for the senior players.
“One of the hardest parts of losing that game was the fact that we wouldn’t be able to put another number on the [varsity volleyball] banner for our seniors,” Atkins said.