For their first match of the season, the varsity girls’ volleyball team traveled away to meet RIS and their many supporters.

Despite a great degree of motivation and a measurable team spirit, the ISB girls couldn’t avoid a tough 3-0 defeat.

The first set was widely dominated by RIS (25-17). The second round was the tightest (25-23,) however the Panthers lost out on a couple of tough decisions by the referee, including game point.

In the last set, RIS was leading from the start to the end, despite the girls’ impressive comeback to 24-22

As Coach Barnes said “the result was more focused on developing at this stage as opposed to trying to win the game itself”. He added that the season is young, RIS played extremely well, and that the Panthers will continue to work to improve their overall movement and chemistry.

Those comments were shared after the game by Madison, the captain, and Peyton, author of several good smashes.

Players and coaches will use this encouraging defeat to improve the team game, because the match was early in the season and they need “practicing” according to Madison and Peyton.

There is no doubt that the team will progress thanks to the shared understanding between players and coaches and the enthusiasm that was evident. The next game is just around the corner (in two weeks time), so the only watchword will probably be, training.

Reporter: Talyann Sow