As the 2014 fall sports season gets underway, the Berkeley Carroll teams have hit the ground running.  This fall, BC is fielding six teams: girls varsity soccer, boys varsity soccer, boys JV soccer, girls varsity volleyball, girls JV volleyball and co-ed cross-country.  In the last two weeks of summer, as other BC students returned from their world travels, took their last trips to the beach, and attempted to finish all of their summer homework, our dedicated athletes were in preseason training, where they spent their days building team cohesion and getting back into playing shape.  Alex Pachter, a senior and one of the captains of the girls varsity volleyball team says, “the team really bonded during preseason,” as she goes on to explain that “complaining about squats, thigh burns, and the un-air conditioned Lincoln Place gym” brought the team much closer together.

Games started immediately upon the return to school.  The varsity volleyball girls have had 12 games so far.  Their current record is 5 wins and 7 losses, but as the season progresses, they are optimistic that they will be a force to be reckoned with, as they were last year when they made it to the PSAA league finals.  But regardless of their wins and losses, “the BC volleyball girls always have fun!” exclaims Alex.  A highlight from their season so far was when they won a set against Long Island Lutheran, which is always a powerhouse team.

Similarly, the boys and girls soccer teams began their season in early September.  As it stands currently, the varsity boys’ record is 7 losses, 1 tie, and 2 wins.  Felix Pilkington, one of the captains of the team and a senior at BC remarks, “the season isn’t going as well as we had hoped, but over the next couple of weeks we have a lot of home games that we can take advantage of and win most of them to move us up in the league tables.”

The girls soccer team’s record so far is 5 losses, 2 ties, and 3 wins.  They are currently in fourth place in the PSAA league, which, as of right now, gives them a spot in the playoffs.  This has been a great growing year for the soccer girls.  Sabrina Quintanilla, a senior and one of the captains of the team, describes, “[the team] this year is by far the strongest it’s been since before I joined in freshman year,” with arguably one of the best goalies in the league, sophomore Alex Inciardi, and a number of new very skilled players, including Violet Denckla, an 8th grader at Berkeley Carroll who is playing up on the varsity team.  “Each member is good hearted, supportive, and willing to bring their all to every game,” Sabrina explains.  As the girls look forward to the rest of the season, they are hopeful that they can make it to the playoffs for the second year in a row, and advance even further than they did last season.

The cross country team has also already had a number of meets, each very successful.  Jacob Friedman, a senior, says, “we’ve been running hard and having a great time.  Everybody on the team is excited for the ACIS championships coming up in a couple of weeks.”

The members of each of these six teams work very hard, dedicating almost every afternoon to their sport, and their work is paying off.  Berkeley Carroll is proud to have such strong teams this fall, and we wish them the best of luck with the rest of their seasons.