The girls varsity volleyball team is one of the teams that brought home a PVAC championship, winning for the first time in three decades. With the presence of a new coach and a high number of club players on the team, the Lions were the first seed in the league, with a 10-1 record in the PVAC. 

“​​During the season, we grew both in our skills and with our connection and bond with each other,” junior Ellie Strisik said. “Our coach was really a fundamental piece of our season. He came in with so much energy, commitment, dedication and he really brought so much to our team.”

The girls soccer team also had a successful year, finishing off with a strong postseason, but eventually losing to Washington International School (WIS) in the finals. According to senior Soleil Eschenlauer, the semifinal game was the “highlight of the season” as their win was from a set of penalty kicks at the end of the game. Their final in conference record was 8-4. 

“We’re [a] really close team, like family and we love each other,” Eschenlauer said.

Despite losing in the semifinals to Don Bosco, the boys soccer team worked hard both in practice and in the games, according to junior Dylan Kobrin. The team progressed in their teamwork skills, as communication was something that was heavily worked on over the season. 

“As the season developed, I’d say we got to know each other better,” Kobrin said. “We got to understand each other on the field more, and our chemistry just built up as the season progressed.”

For the fourth year in a row, the girls tennis team won the PVAC championship, with seniors Georgia Lindenauer and Lily Rulnick winning the championship every year of their varsity careers. Despite many rained-out matches and a lack of practice due to the holidays, the team was able to recover from their losses against WIS and come back to defeat them in the finals. The team worked to eliminate errors in practice and work together as a team to build a stronger foundation in tennis skills. 

“The biggest strength improvements were minimizing the small mistakes and doing the little things that don’t really get noticed and tennis properly,” CESJDS head tennis coach Alexander Kirsch said. “…All of them [the players] improved dramatically throughout the season, even though those things don’t necessarily show up in the scorecard, they make such a difference in individual points and within matches.”

In addition to the championships on the tennis and volleyball courts, the varsity boys and girls cross country team won both the PVAC and private school state championships this year.

“We continuously got better and better because our hard work was showing,” sophomore Gillian Krauthamer said. “[The season is] ending on a really high note.”

The newest team on the JDS fall sports roster, the fall baseball team, had their own wins this season. The team played with Montgomery County Baseball Association (MCBA), and averaged two games a week and no practices. Despite scheduling games during the holidays, MCBA accommodated most of the Lion’s games so that the team could have maximal playing time. As there is no official practice, to stay in shape, players went to the batting cages with friends and practiced informally on the baseball field in their free time. 

“The etiquette of fall ball is just to laugh and play baseball, just go out and eat some sunflower seeds and talk to your friends, but also play the game you love,” senior Ezra Raskin said. “The best part of it was just playing the game I love with the people I love, and just having a great time.”