Early morning games and determination on the court shapes the Archer varsity volleyball team. This week, the Panthers placed in two area tournaments, defeating schools from across Los Angeles.

On Sep. 22 and 23, the varsity team competed in the Brentwood Tournament, hosted by Brentwood School. Archer placed third among five teams including St. Monica’s and Wildwood.

Seniors Rachael Boehm and Cydney Davis were both named All-Tournament MVP.

At Brentwood, Archer won their first three games, but ultimately lost to Oakwood in the semi-finals. Davis , a co-captain, credited the team’s initial success to their energy.

“I think what really helped us when we were winning [was] our energy,” Davis said. “[However, energy] is something we still need to work on, and [loss of energy] is why we fell short. We kept making the same mistakes over and over again.”

However, Archer regained their energy a few days later at the annual Wildcat Dig Pink Tournament hosted by Milken Community School. The Panthers won first place for the fourth consecutive year.

“The reason our team was so successful in the tournament was that we decided as a team before the match to all focus on our individual jobs. That benefited the greater good of the team,” Locke Luhnow ’18 said. “We all a wanted to win for each other.”

Luhnow ’18 won Tournament MVP, an honor previously won by alumnae Sophie Smyth ’17 in 2016 and Christian Luhnow ’16 in 2015.

“Our energy was very consistent. We all stayed positive,” Luhnow ’18 said. “At times it was a good positive — we were really hyped. But when we were down and not getting a lot of points, we didn’t fall into a funk. We brought it in, breathed, got a pass and went from there. Staying calm helped us win each match.”

Co-captains Amelia Nathanson ’20 and Macoy Ohlbaum ’18 were both named All-Tournament.

This is the first year that the team’s head coach is Lainey Gera, a former libero for the UCLA women’s volleyball team from 2009-2011. Gera was formerly the assistant coach.

“Our Coach Lainey asked us before the match what we wanted to leave as our legacy. We talked about being proud,” Ohlbaum said. “We wanted to be able to walk away from each game and say ‘I’m proud.'”

The team’s next game will be at Glendale Adventist Thursday, Oct. 4, at 4:30 p.m.

Correction (Sep. 30, 12:20): The original version of this article state that eight teams attended the Brentwood Tournament. That has been corrected to state five teams were in attendance.

Update (Sep. 30, 12:31): The original version of this article said the team’s next game will be against Pacifica Christian, however that game has been rescheduled. The next game will now be against Glendale Adventist.

Correction (Oct. 4, 8:20): The original version of this article did not state that Rachael Boehm ’18 and Cydney Davis ’18 won All-Tournament MVP honors. This has been updated to reflect their awards.