The team started strong until a stroke of bad luck hit. In the first game, junior middle Marianne Koo injured her leg when sophomore right-side hitter Nicole Lee fell on it. Koo was out for the rest of the game. Without her, the Cardinals had to switch their line up around. Things were not looking up for the Cardinals.

Walking into enemy territory, the Cardinals prepared themselves for a good fight against the Washington Eagles during the annual Battle of the Birds.

The team started strong until a stroke of bad luck hit. In the first game, junior middle Marianne Koo injured her leg when sophomore right-side hitter Nicole Lee fell on it. Koo was out for the rest of the game. Without her, the Cardinals had to switch their line up around. Things were not looking up for the Cardinals.

The Eagles also had an asset on their side, freshmen outside hitter Jessica Niscario. “We weren’t sure how she was going to play,” senior Taryn Wong said. “She was really good and she scored some kills on us.” The team knew it had to step up its game and fight hard for the win.

But with good communication and constant energy, the Cardinals kept their heads in the game and won all three sets 25-22, 25-15 and 25-16. “We celebrated every kill and every score which boosted up our energy even more,” Wong said. “This was the first game we really fought for.”

The Cardinals’ season started off strong against Burton, winning in three out of four sets. The Cardinals played confidently in their first two sets but lost to the Pumas in the third set, 10-25.

“It was a reality check for us,” Koo said. “We were really vulnerable and the third game showed Burton wanted [the win] more than us.”

With encouragement from the crowd, the Cardinals put their game face back on and won the last set 25-11. Sophomore libero Jessica Peng flaunted her talent by wearing out her kneepads to hold up the Cardinal defense. Another highlight of the game included senior Karrie Liu who made amazing serves that went untouched by the Pumas.

Yet the loss of that one set was still a disappointment.

“We still need to work hard,” Wong said. “I think when we play teams who aren’t on our skill level, we tend to become overconfident. We need to play at our own level and stay focused until the very end.”

Their focus did just the trick in their next game against Thurgood Marshall. The team won in three sets 25-3, 25-7 and 25-7.

“We kept our energy up throughout all the games and it showed out on the court,” Liu said.

The Cardinals notched another win against Wallenberg. In the Wallenberg game, the team won all three sets with scores of 25-11, 25-13 and 25-8. Peng’s consecutive aces and Liu’s killer spikes led the Cardinals to an easy victory.

“We were really excited,” Wong said. “Hopefully, our streak continues for the rest of the season.”

Come support the team in their next match against June Jordan at 5:10 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Lowell.