In the first full season of volleyball since the start of the pandemic, the Field School Varsity Volleyball team experienced a plethora of ups and downs on their way to becoming a top seed in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference playoffs.

By Piper Cherry

The 2021 season was special this year for the Field Varsity Volleyball team – their beloved long-time coach Emily Xi would be departing to move to Shanghai after five years coaching at Field. It would be a tough loss for the volleyball team, but they almost didn’t get this season with her. Emily was supposed to move after the 2019-2020 school year, but Covid hit and travel restrictions were put in place and Emily was stuck in the United States. The team was ecstatic to be able to have Emily for one more season, and wanted to put their all into volleyball and win a banner at the end of the season. 

The start of the volleyball season was not ideal for the Field team. Their first game, against Washington Christian Academy, was on the second day of school, against a team that had been in school for two weeks beforehand and had plenty more practice time. Field had only had two weeks of preseason, where varsity did not get to practice separately until the teams were made – with two days left of preseason. There was lots of anxiety surrounding the game because this would also be the first time that this team would play together after missing an entire season the year prior. Field had ended up losing to WCA in three sets, but it didn’t dampen the spirits too much. WCA had been a lot more prepared going into the game, and Field Varsity just did not have the time. Before their second game, against Hebrew Academy, they were able to have numerous practices and learn how to play together as a team. Rotations were known better, and they all learned how to play together as a team. Field was able to pull out a win. 

The game that was the biggest punch to the gut was their third game, against Washington International School. Field was determined to beat WIS, as they had always been one of Field’s biggest competitions. WIS had one star player, who could play all around the court and was a lot taller than everyone else – meaning she could spike an actual downball, while everyone else hit it in a more vertical line. She was a solid passer, and Field could not seem to hit the ball away from her. Field and WIS went to 5 sets, and despite all their hard work and enthusiasm, Field was not able to pull through and win the game. Spirits were down, but it only motivated Field to work harder the rest of the season so that if they faced WIS again in the postseason, they would be able to beat them and advance. After the WIS game, Field went on to play the Jewish Day School and Spencerville. Both Spencerville and JDS were supposed to be more difficult games for Field, but the gap year due to covid really showed when Field arrived to the games and both teams were missing a lot of their crucial players. Field pulled out the win in both games. 

The volleyball team was supposed to play more games than Junior Varsity because they are the varsity team, meaning that they played numerous non-conference games – including one against Bullis. Bullis school focuses a lot on sports, with their team consisting of tall players who play for club teams outside of school. Field is very different from them, as they had many players who had never played volleyball before or only played during the school season, which played a big factor in their three set loss. While the games were incredibly frustrating for the team to play, they easily shook it off since it did not affect their record or standings in the PVAC in any way. No teams within the PVAC were nearly as good or as solid as Bullis, so Field was able to move on and continue throughout the season without letting it get to them much. 

After their game against Bullis, Field really started to get into their groove. They went on to win seven games in a row – against Barrie School, Mclean School, Burke, the British School, Model, Sandy Spring Friends School, and Sandy Spring once again in the first round of the playoffs. Two of those games had been very big games for Field Varsity. Field and Burke have been long time rivals, and games against each other are always super important in all the sports. Unfortunately, spectators were not allowed at any PVAC games because of the CDC regulations, meaning that the volleyball team did not get to have their school backing them up like the soccer teams could. In the past, Burke and Field games had been generally even – scores were very back and forth and would usually go to more than three sets. This time, Field was able to beat Burke fairly easily once they got into their rhythm after a slightly rocky start. In their Model game, the determination to win was higher than ever. Field Varsity had never beaten Model, and wanted nothing more than to beat them in the seniors’ last season at Field.. Once again, the Covid gap year proved it’s damage when Model showed up without their previous star players and lost in three sets to Field. 

Field ended up making it into the playoffs in the third seed, playing Sandy Spring Friends School in the quarter finals. Field had played Sandy Spring in their previous game, so they knew how to prepare and beat Sandy Spring in three sets. While that was happening, number two seed WIS was playing the Mclean School, and beat them easily. Field was set to play WIS in the semifinals. Field Varsity was feeling very confident – they were coming off a seven game win streak, and the team had improved tremendously since their first game against WIS. Players were able to consistently serve over the net, spike balls to specific spots instead of just trying to get it over, and communication was incredible. Field believed that while it would still be a difficult game, they could certainly pull off the win and move onto the championship. They were confident that this was not going to be their last game. 

However, it ended up being their last game, as they ended up losing in three sets. The one player mentioned previously had also tremendously improved over the season, and Field just could not adjust. Everything that had been running so smoothly began to crumble, and Field was not able to win the game. While it wasn’t how they wanted their last year with their beloved seniors and Emily to end, it was still an incredible season. Emily had even said that this was the best she’s ever seen the Field Varsity team in all the years she coached at Field. The team had worked together smoothly and everyone grew as players throughout the season. Win or lose, it was a great year for the Field Varsity Volleyball team.