Thursday night FHC varsity volleyball players ended their season with a loss in the district semifinals to the Rockford Rams, the number one team in the state. The game was quite a challenge for them. After three sets of play, they were defeated by the dominant Rams.

“[To prepare for this game] we worked on our blocking and pressing over the net to try and take some of the court away from Rockford’s hitters,” senior Audrey Tubbs said. “We wanted to go into the game and put up a good fight; to go in feeling confident and give 100% effort.”

With Rockford consistently hammering the back row with strong hits, they got up to a 9-2 lead in set one. Senior Emma Beck worked with the force of their hitters, using it to her advantage and getting a solo block to send the ball right back in their faces to add another point for the Rangers. After a few hitting errors from Rockford and kills from seniors Kendall Gardner and Emma alongside junior Katrina Bodkins, the Rangers earned a total of 12 points in set one to Rockford’s 25.

Likewise to set one, in the next set the Rams got off to a substantial lead of 12 points, 13-1. The Rangers were able to earn three points in a row after two overpasses on serves from Rockford leading to kills from Kendall and freshman Julia Bouma. Unfortunately, the game ended no better than the first, as the score was 25-12.

The Rangers put up a slight fight early on in set three with two kills from Kendall and a block from Emma to give them 7 to Rockford’s 9. The Rams got a 7-3 run to put themselves up 20-13 later in the set. Although the odds were against them, the Rangers refused to go down right away and kept the Rams at 24 for a bit. Both Emma and Kendall earned another kill each before Rockford ended it 25-16.

Despite playing the toughest game of the season, the team kept their heads high and ended the season with smiles on their faces.

“In the third set we really came together,” Emma said. “We realized it was our last game together as a team and that we really had nothing to lose. At that point, we were just trying to have fun. As a team, we had our ups and downs, but in the end, those brought us closer together. I’m so thankful that I spent my last year at FHC with this team.”