On October 25, the Redwood girls’ varsity volleyball team defeated Tam in all three sets during their last game of the season. The Tam players started the final game of the year, and last high school game for senior players, by reading letters to their graduating senior players. They included Clare Geyer, Shoshana Herzog and Laine Kendall.

After teary-eyed hugs, the game began with Redwood serving and scoring the first few points of the first set. The Tam team repeatedly hit the ball off the ceiling of Gus Gym, resulting in their loss of possession on multiple occasions. Despite Redwood’s 25-8 victory at the end of the first set, the Tam players were not discouraged and went on to win the first few points of the next set. However, they quickly fell behind and confusion on their team led to a dropped ball and a point for their opponents. The final score of the second set was 25-11 with Redwood still in the lead. Tam stepped their game up in the last set and they managed to keep up with Redwood for the first half. Even when they fell behind, their spirits remained high and encouraging words and high fives were exchanged after each volley. At the very end of the game, senior player and team co-captain, Clare Geyer, scored the seventeenth point for Tam, keeping them in the game. However, Redwood eventually won with a score of 24-17.

Despite their loss, the head coach of the team, Casey Mondragon, was pleased with their efforts. “I am happy with the season, despite our hard games. This game was a huge improvement from our first outing with Redwood,” Mondragon said. “We improved with each set and I am proud of how we played.”

He went on to credit the leadership of the senior players and the hard work put in by every player on the team. “We improved a lot,” senior player and team co-captain, Shoshana Herzog said, “It was better than we expected, and we really went all out this game.”