After a cringe-worthy season for the Judges’ volleyball team, the squad looks to reverse course and make a strong impact this coming year. The Judges did not fare well last season, accumulating a dismal five wins on the season. Midseason, the team collapsed, getting hampered for 10 losses in a row and ultimately destroying their confidence. 

The Judges slumped into dead last in conference University Athletic Association play last season, failing to amass a win in the round robin tournament. The team avenged their defeat in the subsequent Hall of Fame tournament, ousting Wesleyan College in a nail-biting 3-2 win. The girls could not keep the momentum going, losing their next two games in crushing fashion to Amherst College and Trinity College. 

The Judges’ most impressive win came against a .367 Southern Maine University team, a clear display of the Judges’ trials and tribulations last season. 

Sadly, middle hitter Maddie Engeler ’16, who led the team with 168 kills as a captain last season, graduated and will leave the team with a gaping hole. Opposite hitter Grace Krumpack ’19 seems likely to usurp the captain’s spot atop the leaderboard, as Krumpack hit 167 kills during last season’s campaign.  

Krumpack also narrowly missed the top spot in digs, ceding the honor to a fellow first-year, defensive specialist Yvette Cho ’19. With the top five in that category registered as first-years last year, the team can rest easy knowing their digs and kills are safe for the time being.  

Other up-and-coming sophomores include opposite hitter Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19, middle hitter Zara Platt ’19 and setter Leah Pearlman, who cracked the top five in digs and kills. Platt noted the team’s turnaround this preseason, saying, “Our team has been working a lot on staying high-energy and positive, and this is really helping the team improve.” 

Middle hitter Jessica Kaufman ’17, incumbent captain, will need to step up her game in her final season with the Judges and firmly assert her position as a leader of the squad.   

The team will have to play well in the first few matches, posting up against a meager Smith College lineup in the season opener. The Judges have not matched up against Smith since 2013, a season in which the Judges won double their total from last year’s campaign. If the Judges can bolt out of the gate early on there is a chance for success. 

The Judges also need to leverage their home field advantage, as they won only two games on the Gosman turf last season. Avoiding that midseason slump will be a serious challenge for the Judges who ceded 16 of 17 matches from mid-September to late October.

Cho explained the disappointment of last season and its effect on the team, explaining, “Our team dynamic this year is unreal and it’s a complete turnaround from last season. The disappointment that we felt last year pushed us to our limits this preseason because we want to get better for each other.”

Despite the Judges’ promising prospects for the upcoming season, past results are often indicative of a team’s future performance, something that does not bode particularly well for the Judges at this time. With the Judges finishing off their season with a .156 record, the team seems to have hit rock-bottom and can only hope to ascend from the  depths of their conference.