This Week #3 - MS and JV Volleyball Badgers Excel Against EMS

Dave Levy, Athletic Director
Middle School Girls Volleyball vs EMS
 
With her body entirely horizontal to the ground, Adela's eyes continued to track the ball as it traveled out of bounds. It was 24-23, with Tandem trailing. Eastern Mennonite sent a talented player to the service line... and she fired a fierce serve right into the middle of the court. Aurelia, with quick instincts and strong hands, was able to keep the ball alive, deflecting it towards her teammate. Adela stuck her arms out, maintaining her platform. Miraculously, she was able to make contact with the ball and send it back over the net! Eastern Mennonite could only muster a soft hit back into the net, and Tandem tied the game! Moments later, Aurelia took a deep breath and launched a furious serve - an ace - giving Tandem the lead! Aurelia then closed out the set, with a second ace, this time the ball made its way directly to the ground. Tandem took the first set, 26-24.
Dating back to the very first day of school, the Tandem Middle School Volleyball Badgers have been working hard on their technique. On one side of the court, Willa, Aggie and Annie worked on their passing - sending the ball back to the middle of the floor! Freya and Retta have improved their setting - showing off their soft hands as they position the ball for the teammates to take big swings! In hitting lines, we've seen Annie, Clara and Cora work on flipping their wrist, generating lots of power! 
 
It has been an exciting journey - one that is just beginning - as this Badger bunch has been honing their skills. Today's game featured lots of impressive play from our veteran Badgers. Adela opened the game with two consecutive aces! Zuri made an excellent pass to Sam who set up Zoe for a massive hit! The team showed great resilience in the opening set as the score fluctuated back and forth. The Badgers were down 14-11, 16-12 and of course 24-23, yet they worked together to find a way to win the opening set!
 
In the second set, Hadley made her debut as a libero! Zuri and Rory smashed several serves for aces! Oliver entered the rotation on the front line, and Chloe showed her ability to get low and pass effectively!  Congratulations to our squad! The growth of our Badgers has been impressive to see, and we're excited for everyone to continue to craft their skills and learn the game this fall!
 
The team has practice tomorrow - it'll be some combination of outdoor play/watching the varsity game, which is 4pm. We return to action on Thursday at 4pm at home.  See you then!
 
JV Volleyball vs EMS
 
"Sophie has put in the work," shared one of Sophie's teachers, "she has set up a court in her backyard and is always working on her serve."  With the kind of precision and power that only comes from lots of practice, Sophie launched a sequence of slicing serves into the EMS backline. Sometimes they were weakly deflected into the bleachers, other times the opponent simply moved out of the way. The balls were hit so hard they left dents in the floor, so I would definitely have done the same. On the rare occasion the ball was returned, Sophie flew to the front of the court, dove, and launched the ball back over the net!
 
The JV team has now played four games - and we've already seen massive improvement. The team has been working hard in practice: most notably, Marilyn has been going hard in hitting lines, showing off incredible power. Emory got low today, breaking the momentum of the opposing servers, as she set up Catriona for a massive hit! Aofie had an ace - her first of her Tandem career, and Elle also impressed from the service line.  
 
The Badgers tripled their point total in the second set, as Ginger set up Kaylee for a big hit that went right down the line. Emory had an ace - something she has started to do consistently - while Kaylee gave Tandem the lead with a big serve of her own! Nieve and Aofie played with confidence, as the Badgers continued to improve! The team will be off tomorrow, and returns to practice Thursday. They will play their next game on 9/26 at home vs Miller at 4:15.  Hope to see you there!
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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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