The girls volleyball team beat the Woodside Wildcats in three sets: 25-18, 25-14, and 25-16 on Thursday evening.
The Bears kicked off the first set with high hopes and great energy. Woodside took the lead with the first point; however, that didn’t stop the Bears from bouncing back with assistance from senior middle blocker Kayla Greenbaum’s powerful spikes.
As the set carried on, the Bears’ offense stayed strong with help from freshman setter Calista Chou paired with Greenbaum’s hits. The teams remained neck-and-neck until the Bears were able to pull away with senior libero Kylie Winters and senior outside hitter Jocelyn Chang’s serves, bringing the score to 16-11.
“I think we were really good from the service line. We had a lot of good runs. I mean, Jocelyn had a seven-point run. Keeping them down at the service line is always important,” sophomore setter Teagan Forcier-Koranda said.
Continued pressure from M-A’s offense pushed the Bears’ lead to 18-15. After intense back-and-forth rallies, junior outside hitter Sophie Marks precisely spiked the ball over to increase the lead to 21-18.
Marks topped things off with four consecutive serves, and thanks to the Bears’ unyielding effort, they closed out the first set 25-18.
The second set began with strong serves from Chou and effective blocks from senior opposite hitter Bee Stone.
“We worked a lot on our right side blocking, since the last game we had a little trouble with it, and that’s where our opponents were scoring on us, and today we were able to get a bunch of blocks,” Marks said.
M-A maintained a steady lead, with junior opposite hitter Louisa King* delivering key kills to close out long rallies. Using that momentum, the Bears extended their advantage by pushing the score to 11-5, and leaving the Wildcats scrambling to catch up. Chang’s serves remained dominant, helping the score climb to 22-12.
Sophomore outside hitter Gabriella Lowe, along with Greenbaum, Stone, and Chou worked together to create an unstoppable offense for the last couple of points. After great digs from Winters, the second set ended with a score of 25-14.
As the third and final set unfolded, the Bears kept their energy high. “Our team as a whole has really positive attitudes and energy throughout the game,” Chou said.
The Wildcats managed to take the lead early in the set, putting the score at 3-1. Marks had astonishing serves and kills, which helped the Bears eliminate the deficit and boost the score to 12-7. Marks and sophomore middle blocker Emerson Edwards* continued to contribute precise swings, keeping the Wildcats at bay.
Despite a few mistakes from the Bears that gave the Wildcats some easy points, M-A held it together and was able to fight back.
An ace by Pang concluded the set with a score of 25-16, leaving everyone excited and proud of the team’s remarkable performance.
The Bears will return to the court against the Half Moon Bay Cougars at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
* Louisa King and Emerson Edwards are journalists for the M-A Chronicle.
