Bucs Vs. Delta Huskies
Sep 15, 2023
Submitted by Katie Bryson Burns
When you have the opportunity, congratulate the JV Buccaneer volleyball team on their triple win against the Delta Huskies. The starting lineup for the Bucs on Friday was Jamie Rupert, Paige Pedersen, Mariah Dunning, Jezelle Eskilida (with Savanah Pruitt coming in the back row), Savannah Barton, and Hazell Vanderpool (with Elaine Gilson as libero). In the first set against the Huskies Dunning, Vanderpool, and Barton came out strong attacking on the net with six kills between the three of them while Pruitt and Petersen were an aggressive serving threat. The Bucs closed the first set 25 – 18.
In the second set of the evening, Vanderpool and Rupert racked in the points at the service line, each collecting aces. Ava Mitchel also stepped on the court, playing back row for Pruitt, and claimed an ace of her own at the service line.
The third set of the night was a struggle, with the Bucs dropping the ball, between each other from a lack of communication. Dunning, however, did collect three kills in this set, but the Huskies took the set victory with a score of 23 – 25.
The Bucs came back in the fourth set with much better passing – perfect passes from Pedersen, Gilson, and Pruitt– which led to our most aggressive offensive set of the night. Pedersen had 5 attacks with 2 kills, Dunning 2 more attacks, Barton 2 attacks, and Vanderpool an additional three attacks. By putting the Huskies on the defense, the Bucs took the overall match victory for Friday night.
On Saturday the Bucs had the opportunity to play the Delta Huskies C team in a short match, best 2 out of 3. The starting line up for this early morning game was Savanah Pruit (setter), Ava Mitchell (OH), Cersei Strickland (MH), Jezelle Eskilida (OPP), Savannah Barton (OH), and Hazel Vanderpool (MH). Barton and Mitchell both cleaned up with long serving streaks that pulled the Bucs in the lead. Barton had three aces in a row with serves that were low bullets over the net. In these sets, Strickland had an ace and a kill, while Eskilida gave Pruit a perfect pass in the first set that led to a kill by Vanderpool from the middle. The team worked hard and won the match in two. Great job!
Right after the C-Team game, our full team faced the Huskies JV in our last match of the weekend. In the first set of the match, Gilson had five perfect passes. As the libero, she is doing an excellent job of reading players and making great plays. Overall Rupert was our high server of the game with 28 serves and only 1 service error for the match. The Bucs won the first set, lost the second, and finished the next two sets with an overall match win. Way to go, Bucs!
