November Game of the Month: Varsity Volleyball

Photo Credit: Jennifer DeMedeiros

The players gathered to line up at the beginning of the game to complete the gameplan of keeping up the Panther Pride. They sure did with the win!

November 11, 2009

Emily Wallace  

Filed under Fall Sports, Sports

On October 29, a row of four proud Presentation athletes stood in front of a raging crowd. The rest of their teammates stood behind them, cheering for them and congratulating them for their final home game at Presentation High School. The four seniors, Claire Hansen, Sarah Blach, Motade Atanda, and Stephanie Dvorak, were excited for their last volleyball game. The opposing team, Saint Ignatius, mentally prepared themselves for what they knew would be a hard game.
Senior Night, a tradition for volleyball as Pres, is a game that draws many viewers and really represents our school pride. Usually, all the members of the seniors’ families attend this game to see their girls’ final moment on the volleyball court. Traditionally, the rest of the team makes signs for the seniors and hang them on the walls for all to see. The seniors receive flowers and a special presentation from the announcer.
After these festivities were over, the girls got ready to start their game. Starting off strong, Presentation attacked SI with kill after kill. Atanda played a key role with plenty of sturdy blocks, shoving the ball back down onto SI’s side of the court. Pres won the first game quickly and easily, 25 to 16.
The second game was also quite successful and had plenty of exciting moments. Hansen and Blach were on their game and were hitting spectacularly. Blach, an outside hitter, slammed the balls down at SI fiercely. Her serves were also very strong and resulted in a lot of aces. Hansen, a right side hitter, crushed balls into the corner of the court. These hits almost always hit the floor on SI’s side of the court. Though they were working hard, SI’s frustration was apparent by the time they lost the second game 25 to 15. Presentation’s spirits were up as they entered the third game with a lot of confidence.
The third game surely made Pres girls proud. All of the girls were working as hard as they could, even with the advantage against Saint Ignatius. Dvorak, a libero, was also playing very well. She was on her toes and ready to dig any ball hit at her. Whenever SI would try to trick the defense and tip the ball instead of hit it, Pres’ defense was there to pick it up and make a kill out of it. Nothing could get past the Presentation defense. Every girl on the team also had very consistent serves. With around half the team jump serving, balls were being fired at SI. There were not many serves that did not make it over the net or went out of bounds. This third game was won 25 to 14.
All in all, Presentation performed very well against Saint Ignatius. The girls worked together as a team and truly made the spectators proud. Coach Cooling, excited about the win, stated “It was an amazing game. We couldn’t have played any better. The seniors were phenomenal. The game was a must-win for us and we dominated from beginning to end.” The team is now competing in CCS; best luck to them and go Panthers!

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Tags: game, Presentation, varsity, volleyball, win