On Tuesday, Oct. 18, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School womens’ volleyball team started out the first game of their anticipated district tournament. The team prepared for and awaited the tournament games since the beginning of their season in August.

In the first game, the Eagles went up against Spanish River High School, which quickly started just after 6 p.m. The Eagles started out leading the set with the first six points and retained the lead until Spanish River tied the Eagles at 15-15.

Both teams went back and forth, never staining away from a one point lead until the Eagles were finally able to. The Eagles stole the first set with a close final score of 25-23 to take the win.

The second set started out with the other team gaining the first point, but that was short lived as the Eagles took back the lead. This set was close with the teams tying it up at several points throughout this set. The Eagles persevered and put some distance in the score at 17-10, and finished and won the set with the final score coming out to 25-18.

The third set was hard for the Eagles. Although they started out the game with the first point, they were trailing the other team throughout the game. Hopes looked high for the Eagles when they were making a comeback at 14-18 with many great offensive and defensive plays. Soon after, they lost their rally with the final score of the third set coming in favor of Spanish River at 20-25.

“I think we need to work on our focus during these long matches.We can’t let ourselves get too comfortable,” middle Jordan Robertson (7) said.

The fourth game had every fan in the stands on the edge of their seats and cheering as loud as they could. The Eagles started out strong and took the lead from the start, and with the combined help offensively and defensively, the Eagles were able to retain the lead throughout the whole game. The fourth set came to an exciting close with the score coming out to 25-22 which now allowed the Eagles to continue on to the finals against Boca High School.

Wednesday, Oct. 19, marked the day which the Eagles would face their toughest competition yet in order to take home the trophy for districts. Energy was high throughout the team but underneath many were anxious about this game.

“Although we were not favored, we really had a chance to keep up with them,” defensive specialist Camilla Mercer (5) said.

The first set began with Boca taking the lead but the Eagles tried to keep the scores close, never letting up from a two point lead. In the end though, with a tough fight from the Eagles, the set score ended up being 18-25 in favor of Boca High.

The second set began just like the first one had with Boca High taking the early lead, which they would retain for some of the game. The Eagles put up a good fight, coming back and tying the opposing team at 9-9, and would continue to keep the score close until the end. The final score came out to be 17-25 with a good fight from the Eagles.

The third set was the toughest battle the Eagles have played yet throughout these many district games. The Eagles were able to gain the first point of this set and kept Boca on their toes throughout this set never letting the more then a one point lead. The Eagles were finally able to put distance between themselves at 9-5 and kept their lead until 14-15 where Boca took the lead and kept it until the end at 22-25.

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School girls volleyball team will end their season with a 10-4 overall record. They have worked hard and persevered through tough games to become second in the district.