Just like our Dolphins on the field and court, it was a challenge to keep up with this fast paced fall season. One minute our athletes were melting in the sun during August pre-season practices, and the next they were celebrating the successes of the year. 

This fall, there were many victories to celebrate. From undefeated regular season play, to personal best times, then a conference championship. This was also a season of firsts. Our 6th-grade students participated in every sport for the first time. Not only did they compete, they excelled! It was a great season to be an AOS athlete! 

On Monday, November 1, we held an awards ceremony to celebrate our athletes. Click here to see all of our award recipients!

Fall Season Team Recaps

Boys Volleyball

The boys volleyball program had unbelievable seasons for both the JV and Varsity teams. Led by coaches Keyon Henderson and Christian Begg, our teams gave each opponent a tremendous fight. The JV team was made up of 6th- and 7th-grade volleyball players. The JV team finished with a 7-7 record. Every loss was a closely contested match. The serving, passing, and hitting improved throughout the team all season long. 

The Varsity team, made up of all 8th-grade athletes, finished the season with an 8-4 record. One of those losses was a close game against a good St. John’s team that we had defeated in the first game of the season. The other three losses came at the hands of one team, the Awty Rams. The third and final loss to Awty was in the championship game. Although our boys were not able to win that game, it was a close and exciting game throughout. Our HJPC runner-up finish was well-deserved. It was fun to see the Awty team cheering on AOS in the previous semifinals game. The eventual conference champions wanted to play AOS because of the respect they had gained in the close matches throughout the season.

Girls Volleyball

Our girls volleyball program was one of the largest of all the fall sports. With seven teams, volleyball was well-represented among our students. We had three 6th-grade teams in addition to two 7th-grade and two 8th-grade teams. Coaches Allayne Austin, Stephanie Aycock, Wallis Turley, and Masani Huckaby did an exceptional job coaching, developing skills, and planting a love for the game in all of the teams. Our 6th-grade athletes finished the season with a combined record of 13-6-1, not including tournaments. They were equally successful in the St. Anne’s and St. Thomas More 6th-grade tournaments. It was amazing to watch our 6th-grade girls play volleyball at the middle school level for the first time. Our girls volleyball program has a very bright future. 

Some say the “middle child” is often overlooked. Not so, with our 7th-grade girls volleyball teams. Both the JV White and JV Blue teams had successful seasons. JV White capped off a great season with a 2-1 win over Kinkaid, and a 2-1 victory against Presbyterian in their final games of the season. The JV Blue team was one of our most successful teams throughout our entire athletics program. The team only lost 4 sets all season long. Their only loss came in the final game of the season. Prior to that, they had a 12-0 record!

Our Varsity White and Blue teams demonstrated the kind of heart and never quite attitude that defines the AOS athletics spirit. Highlights of the Varsity White team included two victories over both St. John’s and Kinkaid. The Varsity Blue team started the season strong with a definitive 2-0 win over Awty. The girls also had impressive wins over Presbyterian, Kinkaid, John Paul II, and The Village School. Great season, volleyball!

Field Hockey

Led by head coach Amit Shah, both the JV and Varsity field hockey teams had stellar seasons. The JV team was made up of eleven amazing 6th-grade athletes. They played each game with a tremendous amount of effort, enthusiasm, and heart. They finished the season with a 7-2 record, which was even more impressive as the majority of their games were played against older students. In the seven wins, the JV team outscored their opponents 25-2. The future of AOS field hockey has never looked better. 

The Varsity team had tremendous success as well, finishing the season with a winning record.  They lost in the semifinals of the HJPC tournament to the eventual conference champions. During the season, the offense scored an impressive 43 goals and held their opponent to only 15 total goals. What a great field hockey season, AOS!

Football

Grit, focus, and the will to win describes our AOS football teams. Our JV group, made up of only 13 boys, stepped onto the field this year for AOS’s first ever sixth-grade team. They got off to a good start, but lost the first two games of the season. Progress was made, and the team did not get discouraged or stop working. Their determination paid off in the third and final game of the season in which they won 13-6 over the team that beat them in the opening game. These 13 boys made AOS history and represented the school in true Dolphin spirit! 

Our Varsity football team, also coached by George Turley, Dan Muschalik, and Paul Posoli, were nearly unstoppable all season long. Their discipline and determination to follow the game plan each week was unparalleled. They finished the regular season 7-0 and outscored their opponents 161-28. In four of the games they held their opponent scoreless. In the HJPC championship game, a few successful onside kicks that bounced John Cooper’s way, put AOS in a hole early. The two teams played neck and neck during the second half of the game, but the ground and pound style of the Dolphins made it difficult to put points on the board quickly and mount a comeback. To the credit of our Varsity team, they never quit.  They played hard until the final buzzer, taking the ball into the endzone in the closing seconds. While the HJPC runner-up finish was not the final goal the team had in mind, the journey and process the boys experienced this season could not have been any better. Great job, AOS football! The teams had an amazing season!

Cross Country

Led by coaches Zsuzsanna Reeves and Nikki Young, AOS cross country had yet another successful season. The teams were entered into most races throughout the season either in Division 1 or Division 2. In the HJPC conference championship, the team competed at a combined 7th- and 8th-grade level and at the 6th-grade level. Our 7th- and 8th-grade athletes ran well all season long, finishing the season with multiple top 5 finishes at the various races. Highlights of the team’s regular season include three first place finishes by our boys along with two second place finishes. Our girls ended the regular season with one first place finish, a second place finish, and a third place finish. During the final HJPC championship race at Burroughs Park all of our runners stepped up their game and many new personal best times were made. In the end, our 6th-grade girls finished the season as HJPC runner-ups, only missing out on first place by one point! Our 6th-grade boys won the HJPC conference championship! What an incredible season, AOS cross country! Go, Dolphins!