No cliché could properly describe the matchup between this year's Stanley Cup finalists. On Saturday, the Flyers and Blackhawks will fight for a year's worth of bragging rights and their names engraved on Lord Stanley's cup.

“One for all and all for one,” proclaimed coed volleyball coach Bill Morris, talking about his team’s unity. With a season of 4-8, Morris doubled the number of wins he had last year, which made him very proud of his team.

“We had a good season, winning four matches,” he said. “But more importantly, you could see the players improving in all aspects of the game as the season progressed.” 

Members of the team also felt good about the season. 

“We did pretty well. Lots of our teammates have improved,” said freshman Nicole Hung. “I'm glad to have participated in such a talented group of players.” 

Even though they didn’t make it to the playoffs, Morris is still impressed with the team's effort and their success this season.  

“We didn't make the playoffs, but continually improved from day one, as evidenced by our game one victory over Churchill at the end of the season,” he said. “If you ever had come to see practice you saw real improvement from beginning to end.”

The team beat Whitman in all three sets with scores of 25-13, 25-10, and 25-22. They also beat Rockville in all three sets with scores of 25-17, 25-16, and 25-17. 

For every group of individuals, unity is a huge part of success. The coed volleyball team is no different. According to Morris, the team was “a group of individuals who competed and worked as one.” 

Hung felt similarly. 

“My fellow teammates are wonderful. there is so much enthusiasm within them,” she said. “There is no way to describe it.”

Some people would consider winning every game and making it to the finals as a perfect season, but Morris says that improvement and hard work is enough for him. 

“To be honest I wouldn't change anything,” he said. “This year was composed of a group a wonderful individuals who worked hard everyday and were fun to be with.”

WJ baseball team's season came to abrupt end on Friday, May 15, in a 7-3 loss to Northwest in the first round of the state playoffs. After starting the season 6-0, the team lost five out of seven games before winning the last three toward the end of the regular season.

The track and field team had a very successful season this year, with the boys team breaking the school record for the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 7:50 at the Penn Relays.  Both the girls and boys teams also scored high in Counties and Regions.

"I'd say overall, this year's track and field season was one of the best in recent years," said junior Nicholas Regan. "We had a wide variety of athletes doing multiple events and scoring a wide range of points for us. Our coaches have definitely set the bar high for future track and field seasons."

Senior captain Ishan Dey agrees that this season has been an improvement from previous ones.

"Our track team wasn't very good in comparison to the rest of the county when I was a freshman and sophomore - one or two athletes accounted for most of our points," said Dey. "We have much more depth now and we recently finished fourth in the county and third in the region, [which is] the highest we've finished in outdoor track since I've been at WJ."

The team had its 4x2, 4x4 and 4x8 qualify for states along with two boys in the mile and 2-mile, and three boys in the 800.

Head coach Tom Martin is happy with the team’s progress this year, but would like to see the team be more competitive in field events.

The team's overall success this year could not have been possible without the encouragement and leadership Martin, the assistant coaches and the team captains.

"We had a ton of guys and girls lead us throughout the season, but for the boys seniors Sean O'Leary, Martin Dally and Ishan Dey were prime leaders, and for the girls, seniors Jenna Willett, Jennifer Spencer and junior Camille Bouvet," said Regan.

The team will face large challenges next year as many of its good runners are graduating seniors.

"The team will lose its two highest point scorers in Martin [Dally] and Sean [O'Leary], so they will need to figure out how to replace them," said Dey.

However, this does not dampen the team's expectations for next year.

"Next year, I expect us to dominate cross country again, and also try to break our own school records, even though we are losing impact seniors," said Bouvet.

Regan is also very optimistic about next year’s perspectives for the team.

"I think the coaches have high expectations next year since we have a bunch of talented underclassmen who are ready to step up and give us an opportunity to perform well," said Regan.

With new records, a great run in states and many more accomplishments, the team has a fantastic season to look back on.

"Overall, I am extremely satisfied with this season," said Bouvet. "I tear up when I think about the seniors who are leaving, and how much I'm going to miss them. When I think about my junior year and all the good times I've had, track is the image that comes to mind. There is just nothing that compares."

    Despite injuries and absences, the girls gymnastics team has completed yet another successful season.  Throughout the year, they placed first in a meet against Springbrook, second in meets against Blair, Gaithersburg, Springbrook, Blake, and B-CC, and placed fourth overall in the MCPS Championship, where freshmen Grace Leslau and Guillemette Bodenreider and sophomore Emily Newcomb even earned spots as All-Star team participants at the State Championships. 
     This year, the team was plagued by many obstacles that they had to overcome, including the absence of a major contributer.
     "We lost junior Shannon Mitchell, so she was unable to compete this season, and she would have been a big help to our team scores," said coach Ursula Bright. 
     However, the team was able to make up for her absence with an abundance of freshman talent, particularly from Leslau and Bodenreider, whose skill and experience were a key part of the gymnastics team success this year. Leslau was even voted the Most Valuble Player by her fellow teammates for her adept gymnastics talent.  In addition, senior captain Michelle Baretto won the Wildcat award for her leadership skills and support, and sophomore Deanna Sipes was awarded the Sportsmanship award for her great attitude and spirit at the meets.
     Compared to past seasons, the team's record may not be as impressive, however Baretto is still proud of the team and hopeful for the future. 
     "My freshman and sophomore years we won second in counties and states.  We lost some really good gymnasts after that, but these past two years we have still had a great team," she said.  "This year we got fourth in counties, but I'm sure the team will do much better in the future."
     Bright was very pleased with the girls this year, especially their great leadership, sportsmanship and support. 
     "Their sportsmanship brought everyone together and they all had a great time no matter what the turn out at the end of the day," said Bright. 
          Although they agree that the team did well, both Bright and Baretto agree that there is always room for improvement, and next year Bright hopes improve their record and strengthen their team. 
     "I am hoping next year with Shannon Mitchell back, some new freshmen and the rest of our current team, we should come back hard, and I will try my best next year to get our team back to the top where in the past the team was," said Bright. 
     Baretto has greatly enjoyed being a part of WJs gymnastics team the past four years, especially this last season.
     "Personally, I have had a pretty good season, but I couldn't have done it without the support of my teammates. They have made this the most fun season that I've ever had," said Baretto. 

ADDITIONAL REPORTING DONE BY PETER LANGER 

Let me take you back to March 2010. It was a bleak time, with a bright spot, for the Washington, D.C. sports scene. The Wizards were in the midst of a 16-game losing streak, and their star player was caught with guns in the locker room. The Nationals lost a lot of spring training games and they looked like they were heading to another 100-loss season.

The NHL's most shocking second round has concluded. The Eastern Conference is going to be represented by either a  No. 7 or a No. 8 seed in the Stanley Cup. The Western Conference is going to be represented by either a No. 1 seed or a No. 2 seed. Who will match up for the chance to bring home Lord Stanley?

After a successful regular season, ending with an 8-4 record, the girls lacrosse team lost in the second round of the playoffs to Sherwood 5-10.

Coming into their playoff rematch, the team was very excited to be facing Sherwood once again.  After their regular season match up, in which WJ lost 10-12 in a close game, it was apparent that both teams were very evenly matched.  Until the girls' mid-season loss to Sherwood in late April, both teams had identical records and were tied for first place in their division.

"We wanted the game more than them and we dominated for most of the game, but the other team just got some lucky shots and opportunities," said junior attack Jamie Cooper after their difficult playoff loss.

Despite losing to Sherwood during the regular season, the team was still optimistic that they would be able to beat them in the playoffs.  Sherwood received many breaks during the regular season game that could have gone either way.  Unfortunately, their playoff rematch turned out to be very similar to their regular season game with Sherwood coming out on top in spite of being outplayed.

Although the team's season ended much earlier than they would have liked, the Wildcats were able to overcome early season struggles, including a head coaching change and a totally revamped roster to earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row.  The team got along well from the beginning of the season, quickly developing strong team chemistry among the players, coaches and captains that they hope to carry onto next year's team.

Cooper agrees that this was still a very successful season for the team.

Without the new winning mentality that Coach Borsody brought to the team and veteran leadership from senior captains Yassie Ajdari (goalie)and Grace Durkin (attack) as well as junior defender Sarah Howie, Cooper doesn't believe they would have been able to reach this level of success.

"They both lead the players to try their best every time we were on the field and everyone respects them as team leaders," said Cooper when asked about their new coach and team captains.

Although the team is still focusing on their early playoff loss to Sherwood and attempting to determine exactly what caused the team to lose, they are still very optimistic about their future and excited to play on the new turf field for an entire season.  Next year, the team will have a total of 12 seniors, a very drastic change from the 12 juniors on this year's team.  The team will miss senior captains Ajdari and Durkin as well as Georgina Beven (midfield) and Emily Carter (defense) from this year, but will be even more poised to make a long playoff run with plenty of veteran leadership on next year's team.

After a tremendous season in Division Two last year, the boys tennis team advanced into Division One this year, where they exceeded expectations and finished very well.

 After beginning the season with a 15-5 win against Rockville, the softball team has gone through its ups and downs, posting a 7-11 regular season record.

To say that the Washington Nationals major league baseball team is bad (or at least has been for the past couple seasons) is an understatement. Upon moving from Montreal, the Nats’ have been the worst team in the league in terms of winning percentage in 2008 and 2009 out of the five years of their Washington presence and they haven't yet ended a season above .500.

Round One has concluded, the top three seeds in the East are eliminated, so what's the next surprise? After getting the entire Western Conference correct, let's see how we fare this time around.