Kyle Hwang '26
Sep 22, 2023
Mercersburg Academy’s volleyball, girls soccer, girls tennis, and field hockey teams traveled to Madeira School last week on Wednesday to compete in the first round of the M Cup, an annual athletic competition between the two schools.
The volleyball squad has been plagued by injuries, but they remained determined to win. Volleyball player Alyssa Lee ’25 said, “Our team barely had a preseason, so we had to rush to assign positions and learn rotations. Thankfully the new players came with a positive attitude and everyone got along quickly, so it wasn’t hard to play well together.” Volleyball lost to Madeiralast year in the M Cup, so they were even hungrier to win this year. This hunger and grit ensured their win.
The girls soccer team entered the field with a similar mindset to the volleyball team. Defender Nina McDowell ’25 stated, “Our team practiced the things we needed to work on. Last Saturday, we played a tough game against the Pennington School, so we needed to keep the intensity up for the M Cup. The team’s goal was to beat Madeira. We were determined to play our best since we lost to them by a close margin last year.” Win they did, beating Madeira 3 to 0. The coaches commented that the players played a decent game with effective communication and flow throughout.
Tennis player Hisano Enomoto ’25 indicated that the tennis team was preparing for the M Cup by building consistency. Still, she noted that the team’s goal during the match was to have fun and enjoy the intense rivalry. The positive mindset brought the girls a victory. Enomoto added, “The result was 4-3. We are happy for the victory and for the continuation of our winning streak, but I experienced a different team dynamic compared to the past seasons…. [H]opefully we can keep working on team bonding.”
Field hockey showed a similar mindset. Alexis Chepren ’26 commented on field hockey’s approach. “We are trying really hard in practice by hustling and working to get to where we want to be. Part of that is to beat Madeira in the M Cup. Our goal is to push ourselves from the start to end to score a lot of good goals. We will work together and communicate to perform effective plays.” Despite the diligence of the players, field hockey wound up on the wrong end of a 8-0 score.
Last week’s results give the Blue Storm a 3-1 advantage over the Snails heading into the winter sports season.