TJ Volleyball Sweeps Up

The TJ Spartans dominate all three teams, earning them the Palmer Tournament champion’s trophy.

Photo by Henry Jackson

On September 8, 2012 the Thomas Jefferson Spartans volleyball team won all three of their matches at the Palmer High School Invitational Volleyball Tournament. In the first match of the tournament, they faced off against the Fredrick Warriors. The Spartans started off strong, taking the first set, but the Warriors came back in the second set, and took the Spartans to five games. The Spartans stayed strong and beat the warriors in a hard-fought five sets.

In the second match, the Spartans played the Palmer Eagles. The Eagles came out strong, and beat the Spartans 29-27, but the Spartans fought back and dominated the Eagles in the next three sets. In the last set of the Palmer match, the Spartans dominated the Eagles, winning 25-9. “We are a much better team since the beginning of the season, and in this tournament specifically we came together as a family,” said Freshman Varsity Starter, Jordan Graham.

After beating Fredrick and Palmer, the Spartans earned themselves a spot in the championship game. In this game, the Spartans faced the Grand Junction Tigers. In the first set, the Spartans and the Tigers went back and forth for several points until the Spartans finally overpowered Grand Junction with a score of 29-27. The Spartans came out strong the next two games with a huge score advantage of ten points. Winning the championship match earned the Spartans the title;  the first volleyball tournament win in over twenty years. Freshman Outside, Celeste James, stated, “We finally came together as a team, and we had a new-found belief in each other, which I think contributed to our win.”

On September 6th, the Thomas Jefferson Spartans went up against the Elizabeth Cardinals and lost in a hard fought game that went into overtime. In the first set, the Spartans started off strong beating the Cardinals 25-22, but the Cardinals fought back to beat the Spartans 25-19. The Cardinals didn’t let up in the 3^rd set, gaining a lead of 7-0. The Spartans tried to come back but couldn’t pull out the win, losing 19-25. In the fourth set, the Spartans came out strong with the will to win, crushing the Cardinals 25-15. In the final set, the Spartans and the Cardinals went back and forth all the way until the end, but the Cardinals came out on top finishing the Spartans off 15-13.

Unfortunately the long battle didn’t end in TJ’s favor, and the Spartans added another loss to their previous record of 0 and 1. “It was a long game, and a good test of our ability. It brought us together as a family,” said Junior Setter, Celeste Henderson.