Playing at home and in the West Gym for the final time(!), Deerfield defeated NMH by a score of 3-1.
Missing one of our typical starters, Deerfield made some defensive adjustments this week (both in personnel and positioning on the court) and the team showed impressive flexibility and trust to be able to succeed during this match with our new arrangements.
In the first set, Deerfield initially fell behind NMH before drawing even and then pulling away on great serving from Camilla Navarra ‘20. Nat Jimenez ‘20 started to read their hitting patterns and adjusted her position to cover their tips. With improved serve-receive passing, Deerfield was able to close out the first set strongly.
The second set opened much the same way, with smart ball placement from Georgia Quesnelle ‘19, excellent ball movement from Rosa Sun ‘21, and frequent kills from Abby Bracken ‘19 on the right side. Coming down to a tight score at the end of the set, Deerfield found their inner strength and won the set to go up 2-0.
In the third set, NMH responded strongly and Deerfield made some unforced errors that allowed the Hoggers to tighten the overall score to 2-1.
Throughout the match, our middle hitters, Kaelene Spang ‘19 and Lara Akande ‘20, were able to get up for blocks and effectively spike balls on offense, but they both took their play to a new level in the fourth set. Lara’s absolutely dominating spike near the end of the set had even the opposing coach applauding in admiration. A full team effort, Deerfield won the fourth set and prevailed in the match.
This match marked the last one in the West Gym, home to many incredible memories and competitive games throughout girls’ varsity volleyball history. On Thursday, Deerfield girls’ varsity volleyball will move into the brand-new multipurpose gym as part of the new Athletics Complex. With a home game on Saturday at 3:30 pm against Hopkins as part of Fall Family Weekend, Deerfield will look to start building new memories on our new court.