JV Arabians compete well in Arabian Round-Up

The Devine JV volleyball team was invited to play in the annual Arabian Round-Up volleyball tournament held at Devine High School this past weekend. It would be a great challenge for the already 4-0 team.
In the first match-up, the JV Arabians faced the Varsity team from Feast Home School. Devine got off to a rocky start, but once they realized they could hold their own, they fought back against the team that would eventually win the tournament. Even with a great effort, the Arabians fell 15-25 and 11-25 to the very talented Feast team.
Next in line to challenge the JV Arabians was the Edison Varsity team. Devine knew they had their work cut out for them, but took the challenge. Again, after a slow start, the resilient Arabians bounced back. They gained confidence against Edison by playing tough, even though they eventually lost the match 17-25 and 21-25.
In the 3rd and final game of the day, the Arabians took on Somerset’s Varsity. After losing the past two games, the Arabians knew that they could play better. In the first set, they played much better, but still came up short. That’s when they would find themselves. In the next two sets, the Arabians took over and played with a lot of energy. They rallied around one another and played some of the best volleyball they had played thus far, taking down the varsity team from Somerset 21-24, 25-22, and 25-13. At the end of the day, the JV Arabians placed 3rd in their pool.
Saturday morning Devine would first take on the team from Crystal City. The first game was close ending 22-25. The second finished 15-25. After the disappointing loss, the team had a couple of hours to regroup and begin getting ready for yet another challenge in the team from Center Point.
Still trying to shake off the loss to Crystal City, the Arabians lost a tight first game 25-27, but after that Devine dominated Center Point 25-16 and 25-18 to take the victory.
Their win carried Devine into the next round to once again face the Somerset varsity. The Arabians started off hot, taking the first game. Unfortunately, the team from Somerset refused to go away, stealing the next two games and taking the match 25-15, 20-25, and 21-25.
Overall, the JV Arabians finished the weekend with four losses and two wins in the Varsity Arabian Round-Up tournament. This group of girls made so many people proud of them this weekend. They earned a lot of respect for themselves as a team.
By Coach Julie Oropeza