The girls volleyball team decimated the Hillsdale Knights in three sets—25-13, 25-19, 25-22—on Thursday.
Students and parents packed the stands, overflowing the gym with energy to celebrate the team’s nine seniors. Athletes walked with their families through an aisle of fellow teammates and took photos with coaches and loved ones before the game started.
Senior Daniela Eline set a powerful tone for the game, starting the first set off with two consecutive kills. The Bears utilized this energy, and with intense service pressure from senior libero Kiela King paired with great overall defense, the Bears left the Knights in the dust with an early 10-2 lead.
After a timeout from Hillsdale, the Knights bounced back with some kills and blocks of their own. Nevertheless, senior Sienna Morales and junior Kayla Greenbaum prevailed with impressive offensive plays, paving the way for the Bears to close out the set 25-13.
In the second set, Morales took control of the court with dazzling plays on both offense and defense. As the Bears powered ahead with a 10-3 lead, they forced the Knights to take another timeout.
The Bears continued to put pressure on Hillsdale’s defense even as the Knights sought to come back. Commanding kills by seniors Duru Ruacan, Sarah Littlefield, and Eline put the score at 21-16 and backed the Knights into a corner, forcing them to call another timeout.
This time, however, the Knights heated up from the timeout. With a series of kills and blocks along with several service and hitting errors by M-A, the score drew closer to 24-19.
“Our cover wasn’t the greatest. But we worked all night,” Greenbaum said.
With the set slipping away, senior Ava Chansari took matters into her own hands. Chansari took the Knights off guard with a tactical setter dump, allowing the Bears to pull away and finish the second set at 25-19.
M-A started off dominating again for the third set. Breathtaking saves with diving plays and an impressive kill from Morales helped them build up a lead of 10-3. However, Hillsdale refused to stay out of the game and went on a run with offensive plays and some big blocks, closing in on the Bear’s 15-13 lead.
Noticing the narrowing set score, Littlefield flipped the switch and with relentless offense widened the lead more. The Knights had no response for her powerful hits, putting the Bears up 24-17. The match seemed to be over until the Knights unexpectedly bounced back with a five-point service run. Even so, Eline extinguished all hope with a massive kill and ended the match 25-22.
“It was a pretty special season,” senior Sophia Schmitz said. “We all had valuable traits and we brought that to come together.”
“We were really excited,” Littlefield said. “It was senior night and our last home game, so the energy was working well.”
The team will travel to Aragon this Tuesday to battle the Dons at 5:30 p.m.
