SELMA — For the first time in 37 matches, the Morgan Academy volleyball team tasted defeat.
The top-ranked Senators (11-1) fell to Hooper Academy, which is ranked number eight, in a five-set thriller 25-15, 20-25, 25-19, 20-25, 11-15 at Morgan Academy on Tuesday.
Morgan coach Jennifer Moore said the loss was a wake-up call to her squad.
“In a way it’s a good thing for the team,” said Moore. “It’s humbling. They realize now that they have to work together as a team in order to win.”
“It was eye-opening for us,” said Dee Griffin. “Now that it has happened, we don’t want it to happen again. We can’t take practice as a joke. We have to begin taking it seriously, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Moore said her team would have to refocus and set new goals.
“They really wanted to finish the season undefeated,” said Moore. “They can’t do that anymore, but I think they will fight for it even more to finish the season with just one loss. I think if they can do that, it could be just as sweet for them than if they hadn’t lost.”
Griffin said she and her teammates finally saw the competition they had waited for all season.
“We haven’t been playing any competition,” said Griffin. “We knew there was some out there, but we though we would do better than this, this makes us want it that much harder.”
Morgan will have their first chance to begin a new winning streak when they take on Southern Academy on Thursday.