The coed volleyball team lost to rival Wootton 1-3 April 1 after an overall successful start to the season. Senior captains Clara Sze, Jesse Wu and James Lee lead the team to reach its greatest potential this season.

“We had runs where we did really well and got leads, but we made too many mistakes that cost us the game,” senior captain Jesse Wu said.

Despite missing about half of their starters, the Bulldogs beat Whitman 3-0 March 21 in their first game. The victory was a personal accomplishment for the team, which lost to the Vikings 3-2 last season.

“We did well by playing smart and placing balls in the right place,” junior Ryan Li said.
Despite the positive end result of the game, the Bulldogs lacked overall communication with each other.

“We’re improving the team’s chemistry on the court every day in practice so that we can flow together better during games,”

Wu said.After head coach Michael Endler addressed the problem at the practice between the two games, the team showed significant improvement in its skills during a 3-1 victory over Rockville March 23.

“We started talking more, which has been a problem for us so far,” senior Stephen Hauschild said.

Wu believes the Bulldogs will continue to improve in all aspects of the game.

“The team’s main focus this year is to build off last year’s success and go deep into the playoffs and come out with a county championship,” Wu said.

Two of the several new players, Hauschild and senior Dawit Taddesse, bring height and  potential to the team.

“With a bit more practice, I’m sure they’ll be one of the team’s greatest assets,” junior Kenny Hwang said.

The captains have pushed the players to perform as well as they have by balancing hard work and spirit.

“I’ve gotten the team excited to play hard everyday,” Wu said. “In practice we go hard and in games we go harder.”