On April 29, the Townsend Harris boys volleyball team, who was ranked 2nd in the Queens A1 East League, faced off against Benjamin Cardozo’s volleyball team, who were 1st in the League. It was a tough game for Townsend Harris, who never managed to regain their composure after losing in the 1st match 25-11. Despite obtaining more points in the second match, the boys could not gain enough momentum to win, ending the entire game that resulted in a 2-0 match win for Cardozo. Despite this loss against their biggest foe, the THHS team remains in 2nd place in the League division.
The volleyball team believed that their worst enemy was the mental stress, which cost them points. As sophomore Julian Delarosa states, “As simple as that sounds, we weren’t in it mentally and we weren’t playing hard enough. We just have to get back to the basics, such as getting back to base position and defensive rotation and most importantly, to pass the ball.”
They also add that their weakness is also starting out slow, and not playing to their full potential at the start of the game. Sophomore Yoonho Cha relates, “something we really want and need to work on is starting off strong from the very beginning and learning how to keep our heads up despite a mistake.”
But not everything ended badly for the team. Some team members still managed to play consistently throughout the game. Senior captain Michael Jazgarksi mentioned that junior Caleb Hong, whose position is outside hitter, contributed greatly to the team effort. He explains, “Caleb Hong did a nice job in placing the ball and helped provide scoring opportunities with his defense.”
Julian, who didn’t participate in yesterday’s game, reminisces fondly, “When the setter of Dozo (Cardozo) was about to dump the ball over the net to trick us as if he was setting the ball to the hitters, Caleb Hong had that quick eye and at the same time, quickly got up over the net and hit the ball back down.”
As a whole, Yoonho praises the team effort and dedication. He comments, “I think we made some great plays in blocking and playing smart overall. While Cardozo made the flashy plays and hard spikes, our team implemented our skill of playing wise and hustling really hard.”
After the loss, the members were neither disheartened nor crestfallen, but bore everything with a calm composure. Michael responds to this loss with a brave front, saying, “Losing against Dozo just makes us want to play even harder and get better.”
