Lansdowne High's new head volleyball coach Sarah Curran watched her team win its second straight match when they defeated Patapsco on Sept. 20.
In getting that four-set victory, she also saw her the Vikings ability to bounce back from adversity.
Lansdowne had won the first two sets, but were trailing by a point late in the third set when starting setter Jordyn Goodman left the game with a sprained ankle.
"She rolled her ankle tripping over somebody and the girls took it hard," Curran said. "They watched one of their leaders fall to the floor and not get back up. I think they kind of lost hope then, they were scrambling around trying to figure it out."
Patapsco won that third set and Curran got a chance to lift up her team's spirits.
"I sat them down and I said, 'She will be fine, but we need to prove to them that we know how to play volleyball and we need to do this for her,'" Curran recalled. "We had a rocky start in the fourth set, but we were able to pull it out. They were coming together on the court, they were talking and trying to encourage each other."
Lansdowne won the fourth set and the match.
Chemistry on the court is something senior middle hitter Shayla Hugel has felt this season under Curran, who took over the head coaching position from Luke Simon.
"She keeps us together and she knows all our attitudes and stuff," Hugel said. "She just knows how to help us work well together."
Curran, who teaches math and algebra at Lansdowne, is the third coach in three years for Hugel and junior setter Goodman, and she loves scrimmaging with her team.
"She's very hands-on," Goodman said. "She makes sure you really get it. She knows her stuff."
Curran, who played three years of high school volleyball at Elizabeth Seton, in Bladensburg, before graduating in 2005, still plays competitive indoor and beach volleyball.
But this is her first head coaching job and a four-set loss to Randallstown in the season opener on Sept. 7 didn't sit well with Curran, so she went back to teaching the basics.
They spent an hour at practice playing defense, an hour passing and an hour serving.
"We went back to the fundamentals and the things that were our main issues," said Curran, whose squad defeated Milford Mill in four sets in the second match of the season. "Our defense was on point and so many girls were doing the rotations and being there and passing the ball. Our serving improved, our hitting improved and all our stats just flew to the roof."
The coach was thrilled to watch the Vikings get their first win after they went 4-11 in 2015 and lost to City in five sets in the first round of the regional playoffs.
"It was awesome and I was happy, because obviously it was my first win as a coach, so it was nice to take a deep breath and say, 'We got this, we can do this.'"
When they beat Patapsco she felt even cozier about her team.
"After our next win, it was like, maybe this is something and we know what we are doing," said Curran, whose squad defeated Dundalk Monday night to improve to 3-1.
Hugel leads the team in kills and plays middle hitter along with junior Katelyn Gruby.
Junior Ajanae Todd and sophomore Tatum Barrass are the outside hitters.
Senior Ashley Sanders was the backup setter and will be starting at setter until Goodman returns from her sprained ankle.
Sophomore right side hitter Jasmine Schouster, who leads the team in aces, will be the reserve setter until Goodman returns.
Although Goodman will miss game action, she is still a presence at the team's practices.
She was devastated that she got hurt," Curran said. "She's out here right now practicing, helping out and doing whatever she can. That's why she is a leader."
The rest of the squad includes junior Dessie Miller and sophomores Jessie Trott, Lily Santiago and Lucy Ekeh.
Curran is hoping to mold the younger players with the veterans and build a solid winning foundation.
"I would love to change the program around," said Curran, who hopes her players have the same passion for volleyball as she does. "I'm not going anywhere. I love being out there with them. I want them to see this is something they can do for the rest of their life in the long run."