WEB EXCLUSIVE With their 3-0 win against The Bay School of San Francisco on Wednesday Oct. 31 in the semifinals, the varsity volleyball team is advancing to play against Bentley High School in the NCS Championship and fans are encouraged to provide support by attending the game and bringing encouraging energy.

Athletic Trainer and Campus Health Professional Justine Li helped the Convent fans come up with cheers on Wednesday’s game against Bay. Li introduced cheers for aces and blocks, which are specialized cheers for certain situations, as opposed to Convent’s typical generalized cheers, according to junior Lila Horowitz.

“I feel like cheering for the volleyball team really helps out with their energy and playing,” Horowitz said. “We usually chant ‘Convent’ which is kind of boring, but Justine taught us new cheers that are more encouraging like chanting ‘ace’ three times really fast when the server gets an ace.”

Aces, which are serves that make it over the net which the opposing team fails to return, and blocks, which block the ball from going over the net and instead land back onto the opponent’s side of the court, are rare points, and take skill according to junior and varsity volleyball player Colette Hom.

“The presence of fans and cheers make us more energetic on the court,” Hom said. “We need to make sure that cheers do not distract us though, and instead encourage us, which I think they do most of the time.”

While it is the players that win or lose the game, the fans can help to add energy and positivity. This can help to make the players feel more confident about their playing, according to Horowitz.

“During the game on Saturday, Convent lost the first few points,” Horowitz said. “Bay’s fans were cheering a lot more than we were, but when we started out-cheering them, Convent starting beating Bay, which was really cool to see because it felt like we made a difference.”

Student council athletic representatives Mira White and Josephine Rozzelle sent an email to the school community informing students about the game’s details, such as the face paint and pom poms available at the game and the reward of free dress to the grade with the most attendees. To show an accurate representation of each grade’s attendees, there will be sign-in sheets for fans to sign their names as proof of attendance.

The Championship game is at 7 p.m. in the Herbert Center and admission is free for Convent & Stuart Hall students.