The McCurdy Charter School volleyball team started off its first week of district play with a pair of losses, first, to Santa Fe Preparatory School, Oct. 10, then, two days later, Oct. 12, against Dulce High School.
The Lady Bobcats lost to the Santa Fe Prep Blue Griffins in three consecutive sets, dropping the first two sets by a score of 25-12, and the third, 25-15.
It was not an ideal start to their six-game district run.
McCurdy had difficulty formulating dangerous attacks, often settling to bump the ball over the net and wait back on defense. The Blue Griffins took advantage of the slow attacks and provided some clinical finishing, working the edges of the court.
“They knew they were up against a tough opponent,” McCurdy head coach Roberto DeVargas said of his team. “They were prepping too hard and trying too hard. They were trying to play all of the positions instead of playing individual positions.”
Then, they traveled to Dulce, where the most powerful team in the district awaited the Lady Bobcats.
They had recently beaten the Lady Hawks in a pool play tournament game at Santa Fe Indian School. While the game did not count toward McCurdy’s schedule, it gave them some confidence, according to DeVargas.
The players set aside some of the nervousness they felt against Santa Fe Prep and they played a closer match than two days prior.
The Lady Bobcats forced the Lady Hawks into extra points in the first set, but Dulce ended up taking the set by a score of 26-24. McCurdy then won the second set in dominating fashion, 25-13, before losing the final two sets, 25-14 and 25-17.
“In the second set, we really took care of them,” DeVargas said. “Except, the unforced errors and not taking care of the little things kept us from winning the third and fourth set.”
After the two district losses, McCurdy dropped to last place in a strong district that includes Dulce and Santa Fe Prep, along with Monte Del Sol Charter School. None of the teams in the district have losing records at this point and Dulce has two losses in 14 games.
The Lady Bobcats have four remaining district games, including two against Monte Del Sol and one each against Dulce and Santa Fe Prep.
“We will rebound from that and continue,” DeVargas said.
He believes the 10-6 Lady Bobcats still have a chance to take the district by storm and clinch a spot in the playoffs, but they will have to win all of the remaining home and away games.
McCurdy did pick up a valuable win after losing to Dulce, having one non-district game in the midst of district play.
The Lady Bobcats beat Mesa Vista High School, Oct. 13, in three sets. The Lady Trojans did not score more than 15 points in any of the three sets and McCurdy won, 25-7 in the second set.