Blair falls short in the clutch

Sept. 15, Nelson H. Kobren Memorial Gymnasium—

Still suffering from a loss against Churchill, the Blair varsity girls' volleyball endured an agonizing defeat against the Quince Orchard Cougars tonight. The Blazers played a suspenseful four sets, 21-25, 16-25, 25-22, and 24-26, unable in the end to hold off the rallying Cougars. Lackluster playing and a lack of teamwork cost the Blazers a much-needed win.

Blair started off well with four points easily earned by sophomore Julie Zhu's excellent serving and Quince Orchard's inability to get under the ball. The Blazers' deterioration began soon after. The Blazers had a difficult time defending their territory, and Quince Orchard managed to spike the ball into an unguarded area almost every return. The home team was saved from a humiliating defeat by the Cougars, who allowed the ball to slip through their fingers several times in the end of the first game and allowed five more points until Blair finished the game with a respectable 21-25.

Quince Orchard dominated the second game while Blair flew ball after ball into the bleachers. The Blazers lost focus and allowed several potential points to be lost. Not one Blazer was able to serve more than once without giving the Cougars another point. Serves kept flying into the net, under the net, anywhere but over the net until the score was at a dismal 14-24. Finally, junior Wendy Quintanilla helped her team out by racking up two points for Blair with two winning serves. This time however, Blair was not able to recuperate any more points and lost to the cougars 16-25.

Blair started with a bang in the third game with Zhu barreling eight triumphant serves over the net. The game continued in Blair's favor with two penalties called on Quince Orchard for lifting, raising the score 12-3. Sophomore Olivia Bozik continued this good luck trend with an excellent play, blocking two Cougar returns in a row. The referee joined the good-luck bandwagon, calling a serve by Senior Katrina Farah in bounds after consulting with the lineman who was not paying attention. After this spree, the Blazers Blair lost four points but finally finished off the game at 25-22.

The Blazers and Cougars were head to head for most of the fourth and last game. The Blazers started in a shambles, there was no communication or teamwork between the players. Luckily for Blair, Quince Orchard was getting their wind knocked out by the referee. Both the Cougar coach and players participated in a short yelling match with the referee until it was obvious that the referee was holding his ground. The game continued but not without more penalties delivered, this time to Blair. The game finally began to favor the Cougars when Farah, after diving to save a ball, injured her leg and limped off the court. The game was halted for several minutes while the coaches from both teams attended to her. The score remained tight at 24-24 while both teams struggled to finish this tense game. Serves were sent straight into the net on both teams until finally, with a score of 24-25, Zhu bumped the ball out of bounds to finish off the game, 24-26.

Blair tried to remain positive after their second loss in a week. "We tried out best," said Zhu. "Quince Orchard was good." Coach Heather Amell echoed Zhu's positive attitude. "We did a great job, we played well. I'm very happy."

Blair's next game is a JV only game at Northwood at 4:30pm.