Underdog Freshman Academic Team Squeezes in Their First Win
The pressure intensified as the clock neared zero during last Thursday’s Freshman Academic Team match. With a last minute “toss up question,” the novice team was propelled to its first triumph yet.
The night lead to losses for both JV and Varsity, although they put up a good fight against the renowned Mission Hills team, just narrowly missing the lead by the end of the session’s time limit.
Despite the loss, Varsity captain Massimo Carbone remains optimistic about the rest of the season, “I’m super excited to see what’s coming. We’ve got a great team and I know we can go far. I have a feeling we’re gonna kill it this year!”
Still, the freshman game was by no means an easy one. Being the first match of the season, and the first match ever for the freshmen, nerves were on the rise.
“I have definitely learned that I need to press in faster. There were at least three toss ups that I knew, but I didn’t buzz in fast enough,” admits freshman, Nicholas Amoranto.
Freshman, Anne Smith, also felt the pressure, adding, “ It was kinda stressful because it was our first time, but once you started getting into it, it was fun.”
Mission Vista and Mission Hills were neck-and-neck for most of the match. The scores never varied by more than six points. This was a nail-biting situation, considering that a single “toss up” question is 3 points and the added bonus is worth up to 5 points. With scores sitting at 33 for Mission Vista and 31 for Mission Hills, the next question would determine the winner of the match.
“It was major excitement!” exclaims Varsity member, Carolyn Cafro recalling the intense rally the night before.
At the last second, Mission Vista snatched the final “toss up question” and scored one point on the bonus. They had won the game by 6 points.
Recalling his first win, freshman, Eric Hilder acknowledges, “ I felt very nervous about the match, and it feels like I didn't make much of an impact on the win, but this gives me an opportunity to study, and to practice communication and teamwork.”
“Now that I know what I need to do,” he says, “ I'll be more prepared for next time.”
So you think freshmen are lame? Think again.