On September 5, 2012, the Manual Varsity Volleyball team took Male to a fifth game as they lost in a regular season match on their home court. The final score was 26-24, 21-25, 19-25, 25-13, 8-15.

Manual had been victorious in the past but the loss of Manual’s talented seniors and Male’s praised recruiting class gave Male enough edge to come out on top. “I was actually pretty shocked when we went down 2-1,” said Alexa Just (12), “but we regrouped and pulled out the fourth game and I was proud of our girls because that isn’t easy to do.”

According to Coach Chris Gould, some players have developed a tendency to get nervous and play timidly when going up against Male, Coach Gould reminded his players that it was just like any other game. “I told the girls to just go into this game like you would a game against the worst team in the state, just stick to basics and control tempo,” said Gould, “We just didn’t do enough with our opportunities and I would’ve liked to see fewer errors.”

The Varsity Volleyball team only has three underclassmen, which means that next year there will be a lot of empty spots to fill. Being an underclassman, Janie Peterson (11) experienced the added pressure of having to step up, not only in this game, but also next year as senior. “There is so much added pressure of playing such a big game as an underclassmen, but its also good experience for when I have to take charge of the team next year,” said Peterson.