Girls’ Volleyball Takes Down Taft
The ball hurls over the net and toward the polished hardwood floor. The crowd gasps in anticipation, but co-captain and senior Joy Liu’s forearms are there to intercept the ball. After another touch, Angelle Diamond, fellow co-captain and senior, runs up to the net to spike the ball onto the other side. Bang! The ball hits the floor. Point, Big Red.
Big Red Volleyball traveled to the Taft School this past weekend to compete against Taft and Hotchkiss. Going into the first game against Hotchkiss, Exeter had high hopes. The team dealt with the competition efficiently and swiftly, boasting 26 aces in one game alone. Senior and co-captain Mia Glinn highlighted upper Eliya Toledano’s performance in the game: “We were able to get a major lead on Hotchkiss with Eliya’s serving runs and aces.”
After blowing through Hotchkiss, Big Red moved on to face-off against Taft. Taft was the number one seed in last year’s postseason tournament. Upper Dylan O’Day noted that Taft “put up a fierce competition with a roaring student section but we [played] far better.”
Glinn pointed out that Liu was a standout player during the games: “She does her job so amazingly, and we wouldn’t be the team we are now without our calm and collective setter. She is so understanding and is able to take lots of feedback and make it happen.” Glinn also highlighted that “Both our outside hitters [Senior] Annah [Shaheen] and Angelle both had fantastic games, with multiple kills in both games.” Toledano also noted, “Shaheen helped our team with a great ace, passing and hitting percentage.”
Going into an important double-header, the team had to all be on the same page mentally. Toledano said, “The mindset going in was ultimately being confident in our individual and team’s ability. We all felt well-prepared and we knew that if we worked our hardest we could really prosper in our matches.”
Glinn agreed and added, “Our game plan was to play our game and just focus on staying together as a team and lifting each other up.” She continued to say that, at times, the sport can be frustrating, but “having each other on the court to help when the players are feeling down can make or break a game.”
The team has only been together for a couple of weeks and already the players feel a good sense of bonding, prep Sofia Morais said. “No matter if you made a passing error or got a kill, teammates will be there to give you a high five and say ‘Way to go.’” She went onto say that the captains have “done a great job of making sure everyone feels included and part of the team.”
Toledano called the team dynamic “extraordinary,” citing that “many teams don’t maintain a strong bond in and out of season, but we are all immensely close outside of practice.” She continued, “no matter in a game or during school, we are always honest and supportive with each other.”
Even the bus rides are fun for the players where they get to hang out with the team while dancing to music and watching The Office. In fact, Toledano said that he is definitely looking forward to spending time with her team on the ride to Milton Academy.
Big Red hopes to keep their undefeated season alive this Wednesday as they face off against Milton, and if they compete anywhere close to how they played this past weekend, they’ll have no problem adding another win to their stats.