Hosting the visiting Hill Toppers from Hopkins School, Deerfield varsity volleyball opened its new facility in style with a 3-0 win during Fall Family Weekend.
Moving into a new facility during the middle of the season could have presented some challenges in distraction and gaining familiarity with new sightlines, but the team responded with a focused, effective practice on Friday to prepare for this weekend’s match.
After spotting Hopkins the first 6 points of the first set, Deerfield settled back into our familiar routines of strong serve receive and strong serving to bring the score at 9-9 and then take a lead on a strong serving run from Georgia Quesnelle ‘19. Georgia’s leadership throughout the day was outstanding and her poise, confidence, and aggressive serving pushed Deerfield out to a lead that they would not relinquish in the first set, winning 25-20.
With intelligent hitting from Abby Bracken ‘19 and excellent line shots from Camila Navarro ‘20, Deerfield was able to take control of the second set from the beginning. Kaelene Spang ‘19 owned the middle of the net with her blocks and quick hits from excellent setting by Rosa Sun ‘21, who found effective ways to set our hitters and exploit seams in the Hopkins defense. The second set also saw excellent hits and serving from Evan Burkert ‘21, including a 5-point service run that helped push Deerfield out to a strong lead and eventually a win of the set, 25-21.
Hopkins continued to pick up our strong hits and play out rallies, but Deerfield responded with its own excellent defense from Nat Jimenez ‘20. Lara Akande ‘20 continued to show excellent form as a middle hitter and Izzy McDonald ‘20 showed off her hitting and serving work from this week by bringing that same focus and intensity to the 3rd set. Deerfield prevailed in the 3rd set 25-18 to win the match.
Thank you to the wonderful fans who helped us get off to a great start in our new court and continue the traditions we have built as a team.
After a couple days off for Fall Family Weekend, Deerfield will have its next match on Wednesday in a road contest against Hotchkiss; game time is 4 pm.