October 1st, the Garfield Volleydogs were forced to forfeit against top ranked Woodinville. It was speculated that the forfeit was due to an incident involving a Garfield JV player and an Inglemoor fan.

“We violated the rules,” said assistant coach Jack Hamann. “We didn’t have enough players eligible to play, simple as that.”

This season for the Volleydogs has been nothing short of a wavy line, and with a record of 3 – 4, the dogs are looking for some consistency.

“Our team is very young, we only have five seniors,” said senior Erica Jornlin. “Though we lack experience it’s our job as seniors to encourage the young player.”

With an unstable season so far, the Volleydogs have not shied away from their goals of participating in this years districts competition, and eventually state.

“We should win our last four games versus Roosevelt, Juanita, Lake Washington, and Ballard,” said senior Alexandra Ndegwa.

Coach Hamann calmly states that playoff spots are for the taking, and that if the dogs can find some kind of groove, they’ll easily claim one.

“Competition is open, no spots are guaranteed besides the ones held by Bothell and Woodinville,” said Hamann.

Team captain Erica Jornlin also feels assured that her senior counterparts Carly Tsutakawa, Alexandra Ndegwa, Maddie Boardman, Noelle Jung, and the rest of the team will rise to the occasion helping the team grasp a spot in this years playoffs.

“We, the seniors, will give our all to get the job done, but we will also need the help from our supporting cast such as Shantea Cardenas and Emily Fletcher to take some pressure off of us,” said Jornlin.

Expect the first two games of the last four to mark the turn around for the Volleydogs, who play Juanita on the 15th and Lake Washington on Wednesday the 17th.

Led by five seniors who plan to leave their high school volleyball career in a bang, and even stated that they our more focused than before.

“The team mindset is now clear and I think it is showing through our hard work in practice,” said Alexandra Ndegwa.

Left behind is inconsistency for the Volley dogs have regained focus and will use these last four games as momentum builders entering the post season.