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By Ashley Wu
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Sep. 24, 2008 |
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“When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality,” American football coach Joe Paterno once said.
With 10 new players added to the girls’ JV volleyball team, learning
teamwork is definitely very high on their agenda. Although the girls
are new to the team, they are all experienced from playing in teams and
clubs before coming to Lowell.
The whole team has great chemistry off of the court, according to
sophomore defensive specialist Tiffany Chan. Their challenge is to
bring it onto the court during games.
On Sept. 4, the Cardinals played their first tournament of the
season against several schools from around the Fremont area in the
Washington tournament in Fremont.
“Since the game started at 7 a.m., the girls were not fully warmed
up at the beginning of the game, and it took time for their energy to
pick up,” Chan said.
At one point in the game, the ball flew past the girls and no one
went after it. That mistake served as a blaring wake-up call, and the
girls picked up their game, placing them at a heart-breaking second in
that tournament.
The girls will need strong concentration skills this season, as they will face stiff competition.
The team’s biggest competitor is Balboa High School’s team, which
practices during the off-season in its own volleyball club. "Balboa has
the whole year to play together as a team," sophomore libero and
defensive specialist Jocelyn Kuswanto said. " I wish we could have that
too."
Lowell Coach Wesley believed that year-round practice is not a bad
idea. However, there are flaws to the year-round practice. “It is very
difficult when many students participate in more than one sport
throughout the year,” Wesley said.
Even without the extra practices, the girls stepped right up to the
net, serving off winning hits in their first preseason game against
South City High School 25-11 and 25-21 on Sept. 2.
“This year started off great,” freshman outside hitter Chelan McGinty
said. “At first we weren’t really a team, but all we needed was time to
bond.”
Sophomore outside hitter Audrey Chang knows that team bonding is an important factor in games to win.
“Winning championships would be great, but I want to get to
championships by working as a team instead of just depending on a
couple of people," Chang said.
Bring your school spirit to the girls’ game and watch this team
bonding at 4 p.m. today in Concord against Clayton Valley High School.
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