Girls’ volleyball upsets RM

The team celebrates its win against Richard Montgomery Tuesday night. Wildcats beat the Rockets 3-1 and will next face BCC Barons.

Photo courtesy of Jackie Krampf

The team celebrates its win against Richard Montgomery Tuesday night. Wildcats beat the Rockets 3-1 and will next face BCC Barons.

In an unexpected win Tuesday night Sept. 27, the girls’ volleyball team upset Richard Montgomery HS 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18. The Wildcats entered the game with a rocky start to the season, with a 2-2 record, while RM had enjoyed relatively smooth sailing with a 4-1 start.

Playing away at RM, the Wildcats, led by team captains Wendy Liu and Megan Fannon, attributed great team energy and communication to the win.

“The team has been working on consistency and communication. We improved in both of those areas last night,” Head Coach Jackie Krampf said.

Krampf also attributed the team’s participation in the Battle of Bethesda tournament last weekend, where the team faced off against other volleyball teams in the Bethesda area.

Other members on the team also noted the communication on the team.

“The communication and the energy throughout the whole team was very strong. It was one of the first games where our whole team was working as one,” junior defensive specialist Aryana Lausten said.

The Wildcats’ season started off with a straight sets loss to Magruder, before a 3-1 win against Kennedy and a 1-3 loss to Gaithersburg. The team picked up its first home game victory against Northwood with a 3-0 win last Thursday. Tuesday night’s win leaves the Wildcats with a 3-2 win-loss record.

On the other hand, RM notched four straight 3-0 wins against Einstein, Clarksburg, Blake and Northwood to start its season before losing games to Sherwood and WJ.

“Beating RM was definitely unexpected […] When we won the first set I think most people were happy to even have taken a set from RM,” sophomore outside hitter Stella Lichter said.

After taking the first set, RM fought back to take the second set before losing the next two.

“We wanted the win and all the girls on the team worked so hard not to let the ball drop with amazing saves,” Lichter said.

In particular, senior opposite hitter Liu garnered many kills throughout the game.

“Wendy carried the team in kills and morale. Every opportunity she got [she] was able to hit the ball down and score us a point […] and was consistent throughout the match,” sophomore outside hitter Claire Kuemmerle said.

The team next faces perennial rival BCC (5-1) at home at 6:30 p.m., this Thursday, Sept. 29 before going on to face 2021 4A West I Region champions Wootton (7-0) away on Monday, Oct. 3, and 2021 4A West I Region finalists Churchill (6-0) away on Thursday, Oct. 6.

3
0