After a tough loss at home last week, the Junior Varsity volleyball team, with a record of 1-1, hosted Williston-Northampton (1-3) in their second of five straight home matches. After both team’s coaches agreed to play a best-of-3 match rather than best-of-5, the Deerfield girls needed to play scrappy and comeback after an opening set loss to win the match 2-1.
The first set saw witness to uncharacteristically sloppy play by the home team. The Deerfield girls engaged in many back-and-forth, one-hit rallies without setting up many offensive plays. Despite this, they led for most of the set. However, the Williston Wildcats service game exploded and won 12 of the final 14 points in the game. The Big Green was left scratching their heads after a disappointing 25-19 loss. The second set seemed to be heading down a similar road, but Abby Persons ’21 ripped off six service aces. Paired with the similarly strong service game of Emma Weech ’21, Deerfield won ten points on aces and walked away with a 25-18 win. A hair-raising, play-to-15, winner-take-all third set was knotted at 11 when the home squad took over. Juliette Lowe ’21 amazed and delighted the home team with back-to-back kills and heads-up play at the net, leading to a 15-11 Deerfield set and match win.
Most of the Deerfield girls, both the starting lineup and the bench, had an opportunity to play meaningful minutes in this tight contest. The team was also pleased to welcome back returning junior and co-captain Claire Quan ’21, who needed to miss the first two matches due to injuries. Her presence was immediately felt as a back-row specialist with superb passing on serve receive. Although the girls should be pleased with their win, they will certainly need to rise to another level when an undefeated St. Paul’s team (4-0) comes to challenge Big Green (2-1) this coming Saturday. Come out and cheer the girls on during Deerfield’s inaugural home St. Paul’s Day!
Set 1: 19-25
Set 2: 25-18
Set 3: 15-11