10/06/05 - Silver Chips Online - Montgomery Blair High School

ilverCHIPS
Excitement was brewing as the varsity
girls volleyball team made its way towards
Bethesda-Chevy Chase (B-CC). The Blazers
hoped to end their losing streak and gain
some momentum for the rest of the season
with a win against the talented Barons. Unortunately,
Blair was unable to overcome
ifficulties in communication and focus,
nd lost in three sets, 14-25, 22-25 and 14-25,
ringing their record to 2-5.
The Blazers looked lost on the court from
he very start of the first set. Teammates did
ot help each other make plays, giving the
arons extra confidence and easy points.
It took us a while to warm up,” explained
ophomore Julie Brice. The entire first set appeared
to be a warm-up for Blair, as the team
failed to find any rhythm or consistency due
to poor serving. Many serves went straight
into the net, and Blair did not have a single
ce during the set.
By the middle of the first set, Blair was
osing 13-21 and desperate to raise the score.
irst, Brice blocked a Baron return to provide
lair with a quick boost. On one of the next
lays, sophomore Julie Zhu made a diving
ave, setting up junior Alice Fan for a spike.
nfortunately, Blair could not capitalize on
he brief spurt of momentum and lost the
et 14-25.
The Blazers reversed their play early in
he second set and started strong, staying
ven with Barons until a 6-6 tie. While Blair
revented a large deficit from building, the
arons were able to slowly pull away due to
oor Blair communication. Too often, no one
alled for the ball, and Blazers ran into each
ther, tripped over each other or waited too
ong for someone else to hit the ball. “We’re
ot playing as a team,” summarized junior
elicia Olawuni after the game.
Blair’s lack of teamwork and communication
reached its climax when Zhu and Olawuni
each attempted to return the same Baron
volley. Both of the players kept their eyes
on the descending ball, and as Zhu stopped
and crouched to hit the ball, Olawuni kept
Football
By ABE SCHWADRON
The JV football team opened
the 2005 season with an exciting
7-6 victory over the Richard
Montgomery Rockets, a game in
which sophomore running back
Clifford Gossin solidified himself
as the team’s offensive leader.
Gossin rushed for more than
130 yards and one touchdown
on 30 carries against the Rockets.
The Blazers sealed their first
victory with an interception by
freshman Terrance Kelly, Jr., in
the waning seconds of the fourth
quarter.
The Blazers continued their
winning ways in a 13-2 home
win over the Springbrook Blue
Devils. The play of the game
was a 45-yard touchdown reception
by sophomore Girard Boulware,
who also filled in for the
injured Kelly at cornerback. The
defense, led by freshman Andy
Holmes with eight tackles, held
the Blue Devils out of the end
zone, including an impressive
goal-line stand in the second
quarter.
Coach Adrian Kelly and the
JV squad, now 2-1, will look to
build on their success. “[The
team’s] hard work made our first
[win] pay off, but we’ve got nine
games to go,” said Kelly after the
Blazers’ opening victory.
Blair’s next game is at Wheaton
on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 10
a.m.
Girls Soccer
By NATASHA PRADOS
The JV girls soccer team (3-
3-2) is off to a solid start despite
initial concerns. The Blazers
have been forced to find a new
team dynamic after losing experienced
players to varsity.
Though Blair has been shutout
several times, the girls have
persevered and improved over
the course of the season. The
offense, led by freshman Susan
Branson and sophomore Kathryn
Scott, has displayed excellent
fluidity. Branson and Scott
each scored a goal against Blake
in the 2-0 win on Sept. 26.
Blair’s goalie, freshman Xenia
Oroxom, helped make the win
possible with over 10 saves, several
of which were extremely difficult.
Freshman center defender
Anne Holt has anchored the defense
throughout the season and
taken some of the pressure off of
Oroxom.
Coach Summer Roark is
proud of the chemistry that has
developed between her players.
“We’re a young team, [but] everybody
[has] played really well.
We’re getting better and better,”
Roark said.
Roark feels the team has
made admirable progress and is
optimistic about the remainder
of the season.
The girls’ next game is at
home on Saturday at 10 a.m.
against Damascus.
Boys Soccer
By JOSH ZIPIN
October 6, 2005
The JV boys soccer team
started off the season with a win
against a weak Kennedy team
and hasn’t looked back. The
Blazers have dominated their
competition thus far, producing
a 5-1-1 record. The team’s only
loss came against area powerhouse
Churchill.
Led by a strong defense anchored
by sophomore co-captain
Tim Visclosky and freshman
goalkeeper Jonathan Fortuna,
the Blazers have kept the ball out
of their net. Thanks to the play
of freshman Michael Funes and
sophomore co-captain Sergio
Quisquinay, the Blazers have
won matches convincingly, averaging
about two goals a game.
This year was projected to be
a rebuilding year for a squad that
lost coach John Haigh to Springbrook’s
varsity team. Haigh
compiled a 20-1 record over
the past two seasons. Despite
the loss, coaches Marc Grossman
and Howard Kohn have
maintained the Blair program’s
strength.
Said Grossman regarding his
team’s chances: “What’s going
to make or break our season is
how smart our players play, because
if we make mistakes it will
be hard to rebound from that.”
The Blazers’ next match is
at home on Saturday at 12 p.m.
against Damascus.
SPORTS 31
irls volleyball gets served by Barons
-CC capitalizes on unforced errors, poor communication to down Blazers in three sets
y MORGAN ARONSON
EPT. 29, BETHESDA-CHEVY CHASE—
The girls volleyball team prepares to return a volley in its match against Quince Orchard on Sept. 15. The Blazers kept the
contest close but could not hold off the Cougars, who won in four sets, 25-21, 25-16, 22-25, 26-24. Photo by Rayna Andrews
moving and tripped over her. Zhu managed
to hit the ball, but the contact with Olawuni
made it impossible for Zhu to lift the ball
over the net. The rest of the set followed a
similar pattern; Blair stayed close behind the
Barons, but simple errors led the Blazers to
a 22-25 loss.
The third set was Blair’s best of the afternoon,
even though the score at the end did
not suggest it. The Blazers started out strong
as they did in the second set, taking the lead
at 9-8. This time, Blair kept the score equal
until the mid-set, but the Barons were able
to take control again, quickly changing the
12-12 tie into an 18-13 lead. One of Blair’s
pitfalls during B-CC’s scoring spree was the
Blazers’ inability to block the Barons’ serves.
“We needed to put up our blocks,” said Zhu
bluntly.
jvJOURNAL
Towards the end of the third set, desperation
set in and Blair began diving extensively,
attempting to save the balls that the Barons
continued to pour over the net. “Everyone
was diving all over the place. I think we
tried really hard,” said Zhu, highlighting the
good effort at the end. It was too little, too
late for an overmatched Blair squad. With
the Barons holding a 13-24 lead, the Blazers
put up their final fight of the afternoon. They
earned a point by returning a B-CC serve,
but were unable to piece any more points
together. The Barons scored one last time,
clinching the set and the match with a third
set score of 14-25.
Blair’s squad was demoralized after its
loss. Senior Katarina Farah voiced her frustration,
saying, “I think we played terribly.”
Farah felt there were several key areas in
which Blair needed to improve quickly in
order to play well against Whitman, the
team’s next opponent. “We need to work on
our calling skills and be angrier,” she said.
According to Farah, a complacency accounted
largely for the team’s poor showing.
The consensus among the team was
clear by the end of the third set. “We need
to practice more,” said junior Wendolyn
Quintanilla.
Coach Heather Amell, however, remained
positive after the game, saying that her team
“really played well.” At the same time,
Amell agreed with Quintanilla and Farah,
saying that Blair needs work in almost every
area, most notably blocking, covering and
passing.
The Blazers’ next game is against Whitman
on Monday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.
Mixed results for XC
By ANNA COUGHLAN
SEPT. 28, MARTIN LUTHER
KING RECREATION PARK—
The girls cross country team defeated
Springbrook with the lower
total score of 18 points to Springbrook’s
43. The boys lost 31-24 despite
one first-place finish.
Juniors Halsey and Ashlyn
Sinclair and sophomore Johanna
Gretschel came in first, second and
third place respectively. Junior
Joshua Uzzell won the boys competition,
finishing with a course
record of 17:28.
Assistant coach Angelique Bosse
was pleased with the girls’ victory.
“Overall, I was really impressed
with the girls. A lot of them ran
their best times,” she said.
Bosse said she did not know
what to expect from the Springbrook
boys team and believes the
Blazers were caught off guard.
“It’s disappointing to lose to them,
but they ended up being good
competition, “ she said.
Coach Carl Lewin was pleased
with the scores and emphasized
that the runners are starting to see
the benefits of workouts. He said
the incorporation of weight training
and hill exercises contributed
towards today’s achievements.
“This is just the start of positive
times that kids are going to experience
throughout the season,” he
said.
Many Blazers attributed personal
and team success to a running
technique called “pack
running”. In pack running, teammates
with similar times run together
in order to encourage each
other to run faster than they would
individually. “The team came together
and worked on our group
running,” said senior Joshua Gist,
“We kicked it in the clutch.”
The Blazers hope to keep improving
when they square off
against Sherwood and Paint
Branch. The meet will be at 3:30
p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at Blake.
Senior Joshua Gist and freshman Colin Schmidt lead the pack in a
cross country meet against Springbrook. Photo by Elena Pinsky