Clearing the court, the varsity volleyball team swept the Cedar Ridge Raiders with a winning score of 3-0 on Tuesday, Sept. 16. The Warriors, coming off of a loss, used this game as a comeback after tweaking their plays and solidifying their routine. Using sharp serves, strong kills, and tight communication, the Warriors managed to squeeze out the win.

“I think overall, being able to win three sets and being able to fight back even when we were down were big highlights,” Coach Madison Smith said. 

Starting the game strong, Emma Waghorne’ 27 opened the first set with an ace giving the Warriors the early lead. However, the Raiders were quick to follow this with a short run of three before quickly being met with strong Warrior defense to tie the game at four. With another kill and a few more blocks, the Raiders were forced to take the first time out of the night. Coming out of the timeout, both teams held high momentum with many quick rallies and back to back possessions. After a few Raider points in a row, the Warriors called a timeout to discuss their game plan. Coming out of the timeout, the Warriors scored the first point, proving their timeout to be a successful play. With skillful dives from Dakota Hodge ‘26 and a shifty back row, the Warriors managed to pull out the win after a tight back to back set. The final score of the first set was 25-23.

“I think our defense, serve receive, and back row are all very strong,” Coach Smith said. “I feel that our defense overall did a great job at setting our front row up for success.”

Bouncing right back into groove, the Warriors scored the first two points that opened the second set. Quickly advancing their score, the Warriors held the lead until the Raiders took a timeout to regroup and bring the score up to 11-15. Frazzled, the Warriors called a timeout hoping to adjust their game play. Coming out of the timeout, the Warriors shanked multiple balls and were unable to keep up with the Raiders’ continuous hits. Pulling Westwood out of their funk, Lila Wellington ‘27 tipped the ball over to break the Warriors scoring drought. After a few Westwood possessions, the game tied at 23. Cedar Ridge, unable to take the pressure, shanked two balls in a row, allowing Westwood to take the win. The final score of the second set was 25-23.

“[Communication] is a lot of knowing what you’re supposed to be doing,” Wellington said. “We don’t really have a lot of time to speak, but we just know where we are, where we have to be, and if we’re not there, then that’s a communication error and we’ll definitely talk about that after.”

Carrying over the same energy conveyed in the previous two sets, the Warriors began the third set with a strong streak of 9-0. Cedar Ridge, late to a timeout, allowed Westwood to slip through and hold their momentum. Coming out of the timeout, the Raiders were able to pull through, scoring two points to add to their side of the board. The Warriors, however, continued with their strong communication and sets, advancing the score 12-2. Determined to come back, the Raiders scored multiple quick points to throw the Warriors rhythm off. Now only up by four, the Warriors’ offense stepped up for their team, continuing to set up shifty net plays to hold their lead. Cedar Ridge, anxious at Westwood’s grit, called another timeout at 24-19. This timeout proved to be pointless, as Westwood scored the set point right out of the break. The final score of the third set was 25-19. 

“[The win] was great,” Wellington said. “It was the motivation that we needed, especially going into the next game on Friday. Stony Point is one of our big games that we always play. We had a rough year with them last year, and we’re coming back for a better season. It’s going to be a rough week, but this is definitely the motivation that we needed for that.”

The Warriors will take the home court again on Friday, Sept. 19, to face the Stony Point Tigers in a fierce battle.

In a swift three-set sweep, the varsity volleyball team defeated the McNeil Mavericks in their first home win of the season on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Not only did the Warriors take home the victory against the Mavericks, they also held McNeil to under 32 points combined between the three sets with a final score of 3-0.

“[Our] goals [going into the game] were a two point out passing, which for sure we made that, good hitting, this game we definitely had a bunch of kills, and to have better energy on the court,” Grace McCluskey ‘26 said.

Jumping into the game, full of fire, the Warriors scored the first point to open up the set. Sliding with this rhythm, Dakota Hodge ‘26 used her libero tactics to make shifty saves for the ball. On top of that, McCluskey fired up her team with multiple aces, putting McNeil in a bind. After Westwood had a 5-0 run, the Mavericks were forced to call a timeout. Keeping the streak alive however, the Warriors were able to gain the first point post-timeout. Finally ending Westwood’s possession, McNeil got a kill, bringing the score 11-5. However, McNeil didn’t hold possession long, as Piper Evans ‘27 used powerful hits to catch McNeil off guard and give Westwood the advantage. After a 7-0 run by the Warriors, the Mavericks were forced to take another timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Evans kept consistency at the net, adding a few more kills to her count while keeping up with the blocks alongside Emma Waghorne ‘27. After an easy few points for the Warriors, Caroline Miller ‘28 spiked the ball and got Westwood the win. The final score of the first set was 25-8. 

“Good serves honestly just come with tons of practice and knowing when you need to slow down on your serve versus when you need to speed up to catch them off guard,” Hodge said.

Swinging right into the second set, Evans got a fast kill to start off the set. Following this, Westwood was able to hold possession for quite some time as Waghorne scored a total of four aces in a row for the Warriors. McNeil was quick to call a timeout, hoping to slow the trend of aces from Westwood. Shortly after the timeout, the Mavericks put their first point of the set on the board with a block. However, McCluskey was quick to answer with multiple back-to-back kills against the Mavericks. As Westwood’s lead grew, the Mavericks became increasingly discombobulated, shanking balls and missing open receivers. After a few more strong hits from McCluskey, Westwood took the win in the second set. The final score of the second set was 25-8. 

“Against McNeil, it’s just important that we keep our composure,” Hodge said. “Staying calm and making sure nobody gets restless is super important [in a game like this].” 

Following their previous pattern, the Warriors opened the set by claiming the first point with a nifty net play by Lila Wellington ‘27. Using their serve game and hits from Evans and McCluskey, the Warriors stretched the opening score 6-0. However, as the set continued, the Warriors began to ease up on the Mavericks. This gave the Mavericks the perfect opportunity to slip in and advance their score. Doing exactly that, McNeil had a few kills and tips near the net in an attempt to gain momentum against the Warriors. The Warriors startled defense did not let that stop them from continuing to work together and make the right plays on offense. As Westwood began to get their defense back in check, they started to pull players from the bench to add a different dynamic to end the set. McNeil, looking to break down Westwood’s consistency, called a timeout. This, however, was not successful in slowing the Warriors; in fact, the Warriors exited the timeout and scored the first point after reentering the court. Closing the set with simple net plays and solid defense, the Warriors swept the set and the game. The final score of the third set was 25-15. 

“I think we played great,” Wellington said. “I’m very proud of Grace for her 500 kills, and I think that kind of goes with the whole team. We all worked together to get that accomplishment, and I’m really proud of us.”

Looking to carry over their rhythm to the next game, the Warriors will take the court again at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12, against the Round Rock Dragons.

With a sinister start, Forensics classes jumped into an action-packed year by inspecting a fake picnic murder scene, set up by Forensics teachers Ms. Avni Kantawala and Ms. Shawn Vargas. Students used deductive reasoning skills and real-life props and evidence to solve the makeshift mystery case from Wednesday, Aug. 20 to Monday, Aug. 25. 

Prior to the hands-on murder scene, students were learning eyewitness skills in their classes. In the lab, students received information about all the witnesses involved, including their alibis, medical issues, and any additional information that could be deemed useful. Within the scene, students had to pay attention to small details in order to solve the mystery.

“We got some information in the classroom on our laptops and we came out here to the mock crime scene,” Eric Arnett ‘26 said. “There was a bunch of evidence you had to look at and take in. [You] use everything you can to try to connect the dots and solve the murder.”

Students collaborated with their table groups, splitting the work into four jobs. One student was the artist and had to draw a labeled picture of the crime scene. Two students were the investigators, and they collected the evidence on a chart to sort through. The last student in the group was the photographer, and they documented photos of the crime scene. Each group strategized to find a system that worked best to help their specific group solve the case.

“We figured out [the murderer] by using clues like process of elimination,” Caleb Butz ‘26 said. “We figured out one of the girls doesn’t wear lipstick, so if there’s lipstick on the glass, we take her out [of our suspect list]. One of them’s vegan, so we [took] her out [of our suspect list] too.”

While the crime scene is a timeless Forensics tradition, it evolves every year. Ms. Kantawala and Ms. Vargas continuously add new assets to the scene to not only make the mystery more challenging, but also more fun for students to solve and grow.

“Every year, we get more props to make the scene look more realistic and developed,” Ms. Kantawala said. “For example, the fake weapons are new. We got new food to make it more realistic, and we also change up the suspects and their info every year to make it more realistic.”

Presenting students with real-life investigative experience, this lab is a fun introduction to the world of forensics, where deductive reasoning meets observational analysis.

“Forensics is going to be my favorite class,” Arnett said. “I’m looking forward to the drunk driving case with the golf cart.”