Their friendship began last year when they met in the freshman leadership organization Freshmen Organizing and Running Mixed Events, or FORME. Now, they play volleyball every week.
The women’s competitive intramural volleyball team Bark is set to play in the semifinals game on March 31 at 6 p.m. against Bucs. The game is on Court 5B at the Student Recreation Center. If Bark wins, they will play again in the finals at 9:10 p.m.
Bark won in the quarterfinals against the Queens of the Court on March 21. Their opponents won the first set 25-18, but Bark came back by winning its second and third sets, 25-20 and 15-11, respectively. Sophomore Taylor McDonough, captain of Bark, said it was an interesting game because some of her teammates and the opposing team played together in high school.
“It definitely added some rivalry,” McDonough said. “They were tough to beat, even though they only had four players.”
Sophomore Jenna Kwiatkowski, McDonough’s teammate, said the game is now one of her favorite memories.
“We lost our first set, and instead of getting down on ourselves, we just kept a positive attitude because, at the end of the day, we are just playing to have fun,” Kwiatkowski said.
McDonough said they had a discouraging loss early in the regular season, but they’ve been able to pull out wins since then. Their only loss came against Digs and Balls, where they won their first set 25-20 and lost their second and third sets 14-25 and 14-16, respectively.
“We have had some very close games,” McDonough said. “My favorite moments are those crazy plays where someone will get an intense save, allowing us to recover and surprisingly still win the point.”
Freshman Maci Konen, who plays right-side hitter and in the back row, said she’s proud Bark made it this far in the playoffs. The team won against Feast 1 due to a forfeit, beat All Set 25-22, 26-27, 16-14, and came out on top against Chi Omega 25-10, 25-18.
“When we first started playing, I didn’t realize the potential we had as a team,” Konen said. “The more we played, the more it showed that we have a really good group of girls that work well together.”
Konen said playing with her teammates in the competitive league made it one of her favorite times of the week.
“I get to hang out with friends and strengthen our relationship while also staying active and playing the sport I love,” Konen said.
McDonough said she agreed with Kwiatkowski that everyone is motivated to win and maintains a positive attitude.
“We are so excited to be going into the semifinals and want this win for the chance at a free t-shirt,” McDonough said.