After winning just two matches total in their last two years, the McCurdy volleyball team has work to do to rebuild a complete team.
But a rejuvenated roster spent the offseason bonding, and hopes to be a much more competitive team.
“We’re looking a lot better this year,” said junior setter Paola Gonzales. “We’re getting really good at working as a team. We’ve been bonding a lot over the summer and getting to know each other better and how we work.”
The Bobcats (0-1) started the year with a straight-sets loss at the hands of West Las Vegas (1-2) on Tuesday — 25-23, 25-10, 25-23 — but looked like a much-improved team from last year, when they finished 1-16 with a young roster.
“Coming in from last year was so hard that a lot of us were afraid to come back,” said senior Allison Cantrell. “But once we did, we started working really hard to be better than what we were last year.”
Last year’s team had no seniors on it, so McCurdy is able to run back with mostly the same players, plus some new contributors while gaining a year of experience.
McCurdy took a big lead in the first set on a 12-1 run after falling behind early, but West Las Vegas won the last two points to take the set.
The second set was tougher, as McCurdy fell down 7-1 out of the gates and never found any momentum to drop the set 25-10.
In the third set, McCurdy jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but then gave up seven straight points, then seven more on the next side-out. They climbed back, and won four straight points to get within one before West Las Vegas closed it out at 25-23.
“All around, they’re just doing so much better from last year to this year,” said coach Josephine Sanchez. “Everything is so much better.”
Alyssia Sandoval led the Lady Bobcats with four kills in the match, and had three straight aces late in the third set as McCurdy mounted its comeback. Mariana Arambula also had a pair of kills.
The Bobcats are bolstered by the play of freshman Kaylee Martinez, who starts and plays as setter, defensive specialist and hitter. Martinez had five aces in the match to go along with four kills and four assists.
“Almost every position she can accomplish, and play well at that,” Cantrell said. “I can see this year how far she’s come, even from last year.”
The Bobcats say that going forward, their biggest issue to work on is communication.
“I think we’re so close that we all think that we know what the other person is going to do,” Cantrell said. But that closeness can almost go too far, and they need to bring the talking back onto the court.
McCurdy takes on Santa Fe Waldorf on the road on Friday in the first game of the year for the Wolves. Last year, McCurdy lost 25-22, 25-9, 25-17.