High school sports are no joke. Gym class can be fun and games. But to athletes in competitive matches against some of the best teams in the city, it’s a battle.
The girls volleyball team went through this battle during the regular season and came out as playoff qualifiers with eight wins and two losses.
The team made it to the second round of playoffs. In their first match against the Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists, the team dominated both sets, with a score of 25 to 17 in the first set and 25 to 15 in the second set.
However, the tables flipped when the team faced Eleanor Roosevelt High School on Nov. 12. Pace lost both sets with a score of 25 to 15 in the first set and 25 to 16 in the second set.
Pace didn’t go down without a fight. In the second set, despite Pace being down by 14 points in a score of 8 to 22, the girls locked in and closed the gap when service point leader Isabella Berg took charge.
Despite the playoff loss, the team still showed up this season and made names for themselves as leaders in girls volleyball across the city.
Senior Isabella Berg is ranked first for service points,with 110 service points earned across 10 matches.
She said“I feel shocked about being number one in the city. I feel very beyond grateful and honored to hold such a title, especially with the circumstance of us being a small school in Chinatown.”
It doesn’t stop there. Sophomore Aleeana Johnson is ranked first in the division for blocks. She’s ranked fifth in the entire city for blocks with 35 blocks across 10 matches.
When asked how she felt about this, she said, “It feels really, really good. Last year I was top six, but I was tied with another sophomore, and I wanted to get higher. So the top five is crazy, considering there are seniors ahead of me. I feel amazing.”
There are other exceptional members of the team, such as sophomore Julia Surowka, who is second in the entire division for kills with 48 kills across ten matches. There is also junior Maria Molina, who is ranked second in the entire division for digs with 63 digs across eight matches.
However, because Berg is graduating this year, the future of the team is unclear.
Mr. Lee, the coach, said, “It’s disappointing that you’re not going to see Isabella play again.”
Johnson has a similar sentiment, but she’s hopeful. She said, “I’m scared. I’m really scared, because she’s so good at everything. She’s our setter. She’s great at receiving and serving, and she’s beautiful at everything. But I feel like the team will be okay as long as everybody that we have now comes together next year.”
