“Yeah, it’s just the way it worked out,” Graf said. “If I could have spread it out differently, I would have. Our county makes us have our schedule set by June, and a lot of other parts of Maryland do not. So other coaches are like ‘what? You want to schedule already? We don’t even have our county schedule yet.’ So I have to kind of get what I get when I get it.”
Broadneck opened its season with a 3-1 loss to Sherwood, the only dropped set for the Warriors all season. By the time they took the court against River Hill for the Hawks’ season-opener the next day, the toll of playing such tough competition back-to-back resulted in a 3-0 loss for the Bruins.
“My ladies were a little bit tired against the River Hill folks. And it was their first match so they were a little pumped and we were a little tired,” Graf said. “. . .To play Sherwood so tough on one day and come out flat the next day, I mean it could have just been a scheduling conflict on my part.”
Graf said the time off has given the Bruins a chance to rest and heal early injuries. Senior outside hitter Margaret Doody’s knee, which she injured against Sherwood and played through against River Hill, has gotten a chance to rest, and sophomore Maria Lim has worked to heal a finger she injured in practice during the layoff. After two weeks, Graf said he’s just recently been able to put a full, healthy starting lineup on the court.
The break has also provided time for the lesson from Broadneck’s season-opening stumble to sink in. Practices have been more intense, Graf said. As the Bruins prepare to open their county schedule Thursday against Meade, Graf said his expectations for the season haven’t changed.
“What it does is it prepares my team for what they need to work on and they have to figure out how hard they’re going to have to work to get to the level we need to get to it,” Graf said of his team’s start. “I expect to be in the top two and play for the regional championship. That’s my expectation… I think if it all goes to plan, we’ll be going late in the season.”
Yost makes the most of opportunity
W.T. Woodson Coach Len Palaschak rotated between Jenna Yost, a first-year varsity player, and sophomore incumbent Mackenzie Reed at libero through the team’s first 10 matches with good results. But with two games remaining before the Cavaliers (9-2) open Virginia AAA Patriot District play, he opted for an experiment.
Yost got the start in Tuesday’s visit to then-No. 10 Madison and Reed moved to the outside.
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