Gallery • 4 Photos

Natalie Vu

Junior Alice Holoubek spikes the ball and scores a point for McLean.

McLean loses to Yorktown, 3 sets to 2

Red, white and blue filled McLean’s main gym on September 6th as the Highlanders varsity volleyball team faced the Yorktown Patriots in a lengthy and intense five-set match.

After securing a victory against Herndon during their last game, McLean went in with high confidence and excitement against Yorktown.

“I’m definitely excited for this match since it’s our first conference home game,” junior libero Caitlyn Lee said.

The team’s confidence was matched by the enthusiastic student-filled crowd who gathered together to support the team.

“I’m most looking forward to our student section for this game, because we had a good turnout at our last home game against Chantilly,” Lee said. “Our freshman and JV teams are also so immensely supportive of us when we play, which is a huge energy booster that we need during our match.”

Despite the high energy, nerves and a lack of communication on the court caused McLean to fall behind and allowed Yorktown to take an early 8-0 lead. The Patriots managed to maintain this large lead, taking the first set 25-18.

“I think serve receive can always improve since it’s such a mental part of volleyball,” senior forward Zaylie Tamashiro said. “Personally, it’s the scariest part of the sport since the entire point depends on you in that one moment.”

The second set followed in a similar manner as the first, ending in Yorktown’s favor, 25-22.

During the third set, Yorktown took the lead again at the start, scoring the first 7 points. However, when it seemed that Yorktown was going to take the third set, McLean continued to play strong, tying the score up halfway through. Continued rallies and strong plays allowed McLean to take the lead against Yorktown and win the set, setting high spirits among the players and crowd.

“My favorite moment was when we won the third set since it was such a critical set for us to win,” Tamashiro said. “It was either we win that or we go home with a loss.”

Despite falling behind in the first half of the game, after winning the third set the team and crowd gained some newfound energy. McLean was able to continue playing strong and win the fourth set, turning the game and bringing the set count to a tie, forcing the players to enter the fifth and final set.

“The best part of the game was definitely the third and fourth sets since we won them,” Tamashiro said. “We had a lot of good energy in the gym coming from on the court, off the court, and the student section.”

The players fought neck and neck throughout the entire final set as both teams were continuously tied and neither team was able to maintain their lead. McLean managed to keep a one-point lead almost until the end, but when it seemed that McLean would pull through with the win, Yorktown scored the final three points, ending the game 15-13.

Despite this loss, McLean’s comeback halfway through the game makes the team hopeful in winning their next game against Marshall on Thursday.

“We definitely know what we need to work on as a team,” Lee said. “We will continue to push ourselves harder to achieve our goals in the upcoming games.”