TCS Girl’s Volleyball team placed third overall in the 2023 Copa Columbus tournament this year losing in the semi-finals to Colegio Cumbres 2-1.

The tournament started on March 6 with a total of 6 teams participating, ending on March 7 with San Jose de las Vegas crowned champion. Throughout the tournament, all the teams exhibited intensity, skill, and teamwork making for some very competitive matchups.

“Despite having new team members this year, we didn’t disappoint the school by showing the viewers fun and intense games where you could see how both sides were giving all of their efforts,” Juliana Lema, team captain, said.

The TCS Girls began the tournament against Colegio Cumbres and defeated them 2-0,  winning the first set 25-16 and a more intense second with a result of 25-21. The game started at 9 am, with parents and coaches from both sides screaming to encourage their teams. Having only trained with the new recruits for 1 month, TCS started off slowly making several mistakes, but gained confidence and the match progressed.

“We were scared and still rough, but as the game advanced, we gained confidence and discovered the weak spots Cumbres had which we attacked more often, leading to our victory,” Perez said.

Colegio Canadiense was the second opponent the team faced in the tournament. TCS advanced to the semifinals thanks to a better understanding of the team, defeating Canadiense 2-0 with an intense game of both sets going 25-23. Practice from the first game allowed the TCS to be more precise with their attacks, but the team continued to struggle with defense.

“Overcoming the fear of playing badly with this new team helped us win the intense game against Canadiense. Their defense was really strong which made it really difficult for us to get ahead in the game. As the score showed, there was no team with an advantage ending up with a very equally balanced game,” Lema said.

Qualifying for the semifinals was one more step for this year’s Volleyball team, but once again, they faced Colegio Cumbres in order to qualify for finals.  With a 2-1 victory over the opponent, Cumbres advanced to the championship round. The game was an intense match with the attacks from Cumbres being very strong.

“Communication and the attitude we had were one of the attributes that led to our victory. Since our last game, we improved our weak spots, as well as our attack which I think was the strategy in which we were superior to Columbus,” Isabella Salazar, Cumbres player, said.

This year the TCS Girl’s team had new recruits from eighth grade. Prior to the tournament, they had only a month to get to know one another and practice. New teammates meant a whole new way of playing and understanding the weaknesses and strengths of the squad.

 “We were lacking participants on the team, so around one month before the tournament started, the coach decided to move some eighth graders up to the high school team in order to complete the squad,” Maria Celeste Perez, Grade 11, said.

Despite losing in the semifinals, the team finished third at the 2023 Copa Columbus tournament, with a 2-1 win against Colegio Canadiense. This tournament was the first of many appearances for the five new eighth graders on the team. The 2023 Copa Columbus was the start of a new TCS Girl’s Volleyball era.

“Although we might have disappointed some, I think this 2023 Copa Columbus went well given the fact that we had a new team. We will use this year’s tournament as experience for the rookies in order to come back better and stronger next year,” Isabel Jaramillo, Grade 10, said