Week #11 - Defending the Den: Volleyball Badgers Advance to the Finals!

Dave Levy, Athletic Director
Quantico had tall, skilled blockers, and they started shifting their position towards the left side of the court once Sofia got the ball on two. Everybody in the gym knew where the ball was going: outside to #3. Lola started her approach, reared back, and put so much force into her swing that it made gravity reconsider its job. Quantico's blockers got their hands on the ball, but their return landed out of bounds right in front of Coach Anna, and the Badgers threw their hands in the air to celebrate a magical win!

On the road at Quantico only twelve days ago, the Badgers won the first set 25-20. It wasn't easy, but Sofia and Maya were excellent from the service line, Claire was firing on all cylinders, and the Badgers gained confidence as they took on an undefeated opponent on the road. While Tandem played well for the rest of the match, the Badgers did not win another set. Some call it "the second set curse." But it's almost Halloween - and curses are off the table. More on that later.
Defensively, Lola had so many digs that she made the court look like an excavation site. Zella had a number of pancake saves, keeping each point alive. Quantico was up for the challenge, and the ball traveled back and forth across the net with great regularity. Eventually, Sofia would set Maya for one of her signature kills, snapping her wrist and smashing the ball into the back corner. The Badgers took a 17-9 lead with Lola at the service line, and Quantico called a timeout. Lola came right back out and continued to hammer the ball into the perfect spots. After a Sofia slam and a rejection from Emory, the Badgers were ready to close out the opening set. Althea had a big time block on the right side, Lola had an excellent dig on Quantico's top server, and the Badgers took the first set 25-17.
 
Tandem was feeling the effects of the second set curse early in the second. The Badgers were down 7-3 when Lola went to serve, and she delivered, just as she has done throughout the season. The match was soon tied, and Tandem took the lead when Maya delivered one of her "did you see that??" hits right at the libero. Sensing she was in a rhythm, Sofia set Maya when she was in the back row, and Quantico had no answer.  
 
It was 22-17 when the two teams went back and forth during an exciting rally. Maya delivered a big hit, and Quantico dug it out, set their big hitter, and Zella had another excellent dig.  When Quantico wound up for their next hit, they were surprised to find Sofia at the net - adding a block to her long list of statistical accolades - a zillion assists, high serve percentage, digs out the wazoo - and a block to boot! The Badgers went on to take the second set, break the aforementioned curse just in time for Halloween, and prepare for the third.
 
Quantico served first in the third set, and Tandem took the set back right away! Emory was excellent at the net with both her blocking and her ability to place the ball just over the opposing blockers. Lola continued her powerful hitting, and the Badgers played a competitive fourth set.  Quantico won 25-17, and the momentum began to shift.
 
"Just pretend like that never happened," Sofia told the team in the huddle. "We'll just go back to playing the way we played in the beginning of the match." The Badgers got off to a great start, with Elisabeth chasing down the ball and earning a three ball kill. Down 8-4 in the fourth set, it would have been easy for Tandem to fade, but the Badgers continued to battle. Zella got her hand under every ball, Emory was elite at the net, and at the service line, where her ball placement is so consistent. Lola emptied out her bag of tricks. As Quantico brought their blockers to the net to defend Lola's massive power, she changed her approach, lightly tipping the ball into the middle. The Badgers took the lead 11-7. That's when Maya got her serving going and contributed a couple of powerful aces in a row. Emory did the same and the Badger lead ballooned to 17-9.
 
Quantico called both of their timeouts, desperately trying to find a formation that would allow enough coverage to defend Lola's outside hitting, Maya's power from the back row, Emory and Elisabeth dominating at the net, and Althea's precision hitting from the right side. Oh, and they had to deal with Sofia - who had too many assists to count, and a block. In the end, Tandem was simply too much for their opponent, taking the fourth set 25-13, and the match 3-1, advancing to the finals on Thursday!
 
Throughout the season, Tandem has dominated weaker opponents. The team has beaten RMA and Wakefield in straight sets. But when we took on tougher teams, the Badgers suffered from the second set curse, and from the challenge of maintaining focus throughout the middle of the match. This was a particularly tough one: Quantico boasted an 11-3 record this season, including a win against top seeded Highland... and a win against Tandem only 12 days ago. The Badgers did not care about any of that. 
 
Today was, by far, the best game Tandem has played all season. The team put it all together. Defensively, the Badgers were incredible - digging out so many hard driven balls that I swear you needed a shovel to reach.  They turned that defensive effort into offense, with spikes that left the crowd gasping. Without question, it felt like they had six liberos out there, our Badgers were everywhere. Coach Anna and I are so proud of you - what an amazing effort - bringing your best for the playoffs!
 
This was a truly amazing day for the Girls Varsity Volleyball Badgers. In front of an incredible crowd on their home court, the Badgers played their absolute best volleyball of the season - peaking at just the right time.  With Wakefield and Quantico in the rear view mirror, Tandem is off to the finals on the road against Highland on Thursday at 4pm!!!

Thank you so much for all of your support today! We turned the Badger Den into a celebration zone after every single point. Thanks to our students, teachers and families for bringing amazing energy this afternoon.  The team responded by lighting up our new scoreboard (thanks for operating it, Kavi and to Seth and Sophie as well!) W!
 
ON TO THE FINALS! BADGER UP!
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Tandem Friends School is a co-ed Quaker day school for grades 5-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
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