Most Archer girls spend their weekends hanging out with friends or family, but the varsity volleyball team spent most of their fall weekends in the gym.

Nov. 5 was one instance of their extended playing time. Students and parents gathered at Park Century School to watch the Panthers face off against Loma Linda Academy in the quarterfinals of CIF-SS Division 7 playoff.

Archer lost after four close sets. They fell 25-17, 26-28, 23-25, 23-25.

“After the last game, I felt absolutely crushed,” co-captain Zoe Pelikan ’17 said. “I’ve never really known anyone that I was close [who] died, but that’s what it felt like to me.”

After losing set four, each senior on the team cried.

“The last game was really hard,” Valentina Pianiri ’17 said. “After the first match when we won we felt great, but then we noticed we started to lose that momentum in the other games.”

The team has been practicing and playing together since August, and this lost meant the conclusion of their season.

“As a senior, it was probably one of my saddest Archer moments,” Pianiri said. “I just remember it ending and knowing that that game would be the last one I would ever play for Archer and with my teammates.”

The game did not only take an emotional toll on the players but on parents, coaches, teachers and students in attendance.

“I was definitely sad because it was the last Archer volleyball game that I would go to as an Archer student,” Alyssa Downer ’17 said. “I know [the team] is sad that we lost, and so am I, but I am also really proud of them and all they have accomplished. Making it to CIF is a big deal.”