The girls volleyball team is looking to bounce back after a tough stretch in which CHS lost five consecutive games.
“The team needs to improve on being positive and encouraging one another instead of being down on themselves,” sophomore Vanessa Zheng said. “Also, we need to stop overestimating the other teams and thinking that they are amazing because that brings our team down to a lower level of playing.”
The tail end of this streak proved especially frustrating for the Bulldogs as they failed to win a set against either Paint Branch Oct. 12 or Sherwood Oct. 14. The two shutouts dropped the Bulldogs’ record to 4-7 after a promising 4-2 start.
“In the games we’ve lost, we’d have a lead but couldn’t finish what we started,” senior captain Erica Chao said. “We made too many mistakes and lost points because of them.”
Chao was one of the few bright spots in the team’s loss to division rival Walter Johnson Oct. 7, as several key players, including senior captain Kellen Jiang, were out due to illness.
“[Chao] can get every ball, no matter what, injured or not,” Zheng said.
Despite Chao’s strong play, the team’s depleted roster has certainly had an impact.
“We had a 15 girl team to begin the season and our last practice had six girls, so our lack of players might hurt us,” Chao said, “But we’ve all stepped it up and everyone has shown themselves to be all-around players that can play any position if asked.”
After a hard fought 3-1 loss to Northwest Sept. 30, the team went into the game against Gaithersburg Oct. 5 with four players out sick with cases of swine flu, regular colds and one injury.
The lack of depth as well as the noticeable absence of several star players caught up to the Bulldogs as they fell 3-0, beginning a streak of four straight shutout losses.
“The results are kind of a slap in the face that tells us we have to keep improving in win,” Chao said, “We seem to psych ourselves out and take ourselves out of the game before it’s even started.”
The Bulldogs will finish up their season with games against Northwood Oct. 28 and Kennedy Nov. 3.