With a score of 3-0, Jefferson’s varsity volleyball team triumphed against the Lee Lancers during their home game on Oct. 18.

Because the game fell on the team’s senior night, fellow players and coaches recognized the seniors for their efforts throughout their last season as part of the volleyball team.

“This night is for the seniors,” junior varsity team manager Sophia Wang said. “We made them breakfast this morning, and it’s basically honoring the seniors. It really sucks to be a senior and lose on senior night which is why you normally play the worst team in your district.”

The game held special significance to the seniors on the team, serving as a reminder of how much they had progressed since their first year on the team.

“I almost cried honestly,” defensive and serving specialist Vivian Gruendel said. “All my friends showed up to the game. I remember freshman year when I was at the senior night and it was so insane because I thought ‘Oh my God I’m never gonna get there.’ And then it sort of finally happened last night which was awesome.”

After warming up to music blasting in the background and cheers from a packed crowd of parents and students, Jefferson’s volleyball team kicked off the game with the first point. The Lancers soon caught up due to some serving and hitting errors from the Colonials, but Jefferson remained in the lead throughout the entire game.

“I think we did really well as a practice for the play-off games that we’ll be having next week,” Gruendel said. “There were definitely a few disconnects that we had, sometimes with some serving errors, but for the most part we were connecting super well with our hitters, and our passes were pretty decent,”

As this was their last regular home game for the fall season, the volleyball team saw the game as a chance to prepare for their upcoming play-offs.

“I expected us to take full opportunity with the sort of variety and plays that we’d learned that week,” Gruendel said. “To sort of prepare for play-offs, Lee was a really good team to practice plays with because we have a little more flexibility with teams like theirs.”

Based on their performance so far this season, the team has high hopes for the remainder of their season in the play-off games.

“It’s not lost on me because we’re going out with a bang,” Gruendel said. “We could get a division title or a district title this year which is something we haven’t been able to do since [around] 2013.”