Coming into this season, the boys volleyball team has tremendous expectations after finishing 11-1 last year and making it to the third round of playoffs. Despite losing all-star senior and the highest ranked setter Jeremy Lee, the team returned a wealth of experience led by senior co-captain Juan Pablo Zuluaga, senior Felipe Corte and junior Halid Hamadi, all of whom were voted by MCPS coaches as WJ’s Top Volleyball Players.
“We were expecting to have the same record or a perfect season,” said Zuluaga.
Expectations can only get a team so far; at this point in the season, the team has looked decent, but has already lost two games in its first seven, displaying their vulnerability.
“Those two losses [to Richard Montgomery and Blair] were tough for us because of the expectation we had for this season but they helped us a lot to improve our game because that’s when we really got to know our weaknesses as a team and as individual players,” said Zuluaga.
The ‘Cats defeated the Rockets last year in a thrilling five set match, but did not have the same luck this time around and lost in another five-set match, 20-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 11-15.
“Although it really sucks losing as a team we can learn from these early mistakes and bounce back rather than being blindsided by our future opponents,” said senior co-captain James Lillie.
The early tough losses have produced a promising turn for the team’s season as the team is (as of Apr. 26) riding a four-game winning streak, all completed within three sets. Carrying this momentum into the late part of the season and into playoffs will be the biggest test for the Wildcats this year.
High expectations this season have proved to be the Wildcats’ hurdle when it comes to winning consistently. The quest for perfection was an attractive yet demanding possibility for the team, but the two early losses in this season has proved the team has not overcome this expectation. The pressures of a perfect season can sometimes prove as an obstacle in the success of a team.
“We are a very competitive team who hates losing so we always feel that we have to win,” said Zuluaga.
Volleyball powerhouses Blair and Richard Montgomery proved to be tough challenges for WJ, and playing these teams in the season may be what the Cats need to be ready for playoffs.
“Everyone needs a challenge,” said coach Sylvie Ellen. “It gets us playing competitively. We just have to tackle the mental hurdles this year.”
The schedule will ease up a bit for the Wildcats with a home game against B-CC tomorrow at 5:15 p.m and a visit to Rockville May 2, to round out the season, but the team knows it will have to play each game with a hard attitude. While the team hasn’t been perfect in the regular season, the playoffs present a fresh season where perfection really matters.
“We just want to improve our game no matter what so we can do well in playoffs,” said Zuluaga.
A perfect regular season may be out of the question, but a perfect postseason will satisfy any team’s hunger for success, especially this one’s.
