In enemy territory, the Cardinals were overwhelmed by the crowd and plundered by the Balboa Buccaneers on Tuesday in three sets: 13-25, 15-25, 24-26. They currently stand 6-2 in fourth place in the AAA league.

The team lost hope many times as Balboa played a better game, according to junior outside hitter Chelan McGinty. They could not find their rhythm, and lost their high-spirited energy as momentum slipped away. “Many times we had leads but failed to hold onto them,” McGinty said. “Balboa also had really good defense and could pick up a lot of our hits.”

That loss followed a victory last week, as the Cardinals easily swept the O’Connell Boilermakers on Oct. 22 in three sets: 25-6, 25-11, 25-9.

The team thought that the Boilermakers were good practice to execute different plays, which they would use against upcoming competition, according to defensive specialist Jasmine Decastro. “O’Connell is not really a developed or skilled team, so we made sure to take the chance to practice especially when we will play more competitive teams, like Lincoln,” Decastro said.

On Oct. 20, the Cardinals barely escaped the clutching claws of the Burton Pumas in five sets: 13-25, 19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-13.

The team was not expecting such swift defense or thunderous hits from the Pumas, and slowly picked up its pace in the third set. “We started to talk more and make better plays,” junior middle blocker Danielle Menikheim said. “We clutched onto leads and never gave up.”

Assistant coach Jackie Randolph said she saw a change in attitude in the athletes and was impressed. She thought that their ability to quickly fix their mistakes and keep fighting hard demonstrated their potential as they soon face bigger competition from Lincoln and Balboa.

After their 4:00 p.m. game today at Wallenburg High School against the Bulldogs, come support the Cardinals at 5:10 p.m. on Nov. 2 at Lowell as they battle for a playoff spot against the Galileo Lions.