Bethesda-Chevy Chase girls volleyball is 6-4 at the season's midpoint, with junior captains crediting first-year varsity coach Evan O'Neill for the team's determination.

The Barons opened the fall with four wins in their first six matches, sweeping Watkins Mill and dropping just one set each to Seneca Valley and Walter Johnson. They won in five sets against Quince Orchard on Sept. 24. Losses to Churchill and Wootton came down to the final set in both matches.

The second half has been uneven. B-CC fell 3-0 to Whitman on Oct. 1, then swept Damascus on Oct. 6 before losing 3-0 to Sherwood on Oct. 8. A 3-0 win over Northwood on Oct. 13 put the Barons on a one-match winning streak, according to MaxPreps. They sit fourth in the Montgomery County 4A West region at 2-2.

Junior captain Emma Karver, a libero and defensive specialist, told The Tattler the recent losses have weighed on the team's confidence. She pointed to effort as the area that needs the most work heading into the back half of the schedule.

Karver credited O'Neill's arrival for lifting the program. "He's really determined for us to like get better, and like he's been such an impact and like such an inspiration for all of us," she told The Tattler.

O'Neill set high expectations before the season opener. In a September preview in The Tattler, he said the team wanted to finish above .500 and was "shooting for potentially a county championship this year." At 6-4 with four matches left, the Barons are on pace for that first target.

Claire Tepper, a junior outside hitter who shares the captaincy with Karver, said crowd energy has been a factor. She singled out the home match against Churchill as one of the best-attended games of the season, telling The Tattler that the noise in B-CC's small gym feeds the team's intensity.

Karver echoed that, calling the Churchill match "really intense" and saying it gave the team a strong start to the season despite the five-set loss.

The Barons' roster blends experience and youth. Seniors Anya Mayer, Sabine Kong, Sasha Moriarty and Emma Koeppel anchor the upper class, while freshmen Lyla Braun, Laura Lacorte-Serrano and Aashvi Yadav have joined the varsity squad, according to MaxPreps.

B-CC hosts Northwest on Monday, Oct. 19, then faces Richard Montgomery on Friday, Oct. 23, Blair on Monday, Oct. 26 and travels to Magruder on Thursday, Oct. 29.