November 9, 2001
by Jason Feirman

Seniors Alison Ellenbogen and Rebecca Grunberger try to keep a point alive in their season finale on Oct. 25.

After a slow start, the girls varsity volleyball team finished the regular season in fifth place with a 7-6 record, only to lose to the Hebrew Academy Cougars in the quarterfinals on Oct. 30.

It appeared that the Lions season was headed downhill after they lost their first three league games, culminating with a loss against the Barrie Day School Mustangs on Sept. 25.

“That was a really tough loss. We did not play as well as we are capable of playing,” said Coach Christian Citarella.

“[The Mustangs] had a lot of fans there. Our players let the fans get into their heads, and we played down to their level.”

After the loss, the Lions were able to come together and win four straight games, including a double-header win against the Washington International School Red Devils on Oct. 15.

The Lions, however, went on a four game losing streak after the victory.

They entered their final regular season game, a rematch against the Mustangs, with a 4-6 league record. This time around, the Lions were able to beat the Mustangs 3-2.

“We played really well. The players stayed focus and didn’t let it get away from them,” said Citarella. Despite the fact that the Lions entered the playoffs on a high note, they fell to the Cougars 3-0 in the quarterfinals.

According to Citarella, although the Lions lost the game, they were much more competitive in their second match against the Cougars than in their regular season loss against the Cougars on Sept. 22.

“The girls played much better the second time around.” he said. “We were close for the first 12 points in each game. Then we’d lose a couple of long points. It wouldn’t fall in our direction.”

Citarella believes that one factor which contributed to the Lions’ loss was their opponent’s strong offensive performance.

“The Cougars serving was excellent,” he said.

“They were able to use their serve as a weapon.”

Although senior Alison Ellenbogen expressed similar sentiments about the Lions’ performance in the game, she cites the players’ attitudes at practice the day before the game as a contributing factor to the loss.

“I think some people weren’t focused at practice the day before,” she said. “Everyone wasn’t in the mindset that this was our last game if we lost.”

Another reason that Lions were not as successful as they had hoped to be this season was scheduling conflicts throughout the season. With the Jewish holidays, the events of September 11, and two bomb scares at the school, the team was left with only seven practices all season long.

Nevertheless, they players did the best that they could and tried their hardest every game, according to Citarella.

“The players got along fabulously. They looked out for each other,” he said. “The atmosphere on the team was the best that I’ve seen in the three years I’ve been coaching the team.”

This season, Citarella split the team up into a varsity and a junior varsity team in order to let younger players develop their skills.

Although the junior varsity players were prepared to play during all of the varsity games, three games were scheduled for solely the junior varsity players.

“Everyone learned from each other,” said Ellenbogen. “Next year, there will not be a lot of inexperienced players on the court because the junior varsity players were able to get a lot of practice this year,” she said.

With the seven junior varsity players returning next year, along with junior starters Shira Goldstein and Elana Kleiner Lowell and freshman starter Erica Strudler, the team has a good core for being successful in years to come.