Submitted by VHS Varsity Volleyball Coach
October 3-4
This weekend our JV and Varsity Buccaneer Volleyball teams faced off against the Monroe Catholic Rams. The venue for this competition took place at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Patty Center, home of the Nanooks. The Bucs had previously played the Rams at the hometown Valdez Invite at the start of the season with the Bucs walking away with two narrow victories. This weekend the Rams took the floor with some unfinished business to settle.
In our first match on Friday, both the Bucs and Rams played a fierce offensive match. The Rams had a strong outside hitter who loved to target the line shot and a tall middle player mixing up the angles. The Bucs responded aggressively with strong outside attacks from Branshaw, sneaky tips from Franklin, unassuming off-speed shots from Strickland at the middle, and the hard to defend, left-handed cross shots from Unger. Valdez was also able to slip in some right side attacks across court from Marchant and Alex and back row attacks from Kilian, Scott, and Branshaw. Even more exciting were the defensive blocks and coverage executed by both teams. These scrappy plays made for long and exciting rallies. Defensive specialists Scott, Branshaw, and Mitchell kept us alive with tight block and tip coverage. In one particularly long rally the Bucs scored a kill off Unger that started with tip coverage from another one of our back row defensive specialists, Savannah Hammerly. The Rams took the Bucs out in the first two sets of the evening but were not able to close the deal in set three. The Bucs fought back in set three and four, forcing the Rams into a 5th game to 15. The Bucs and Rams exchanged point for point, but the Rams took the lead in the end and won the set and match.
The Saturday match was another exciting dual. The Bucs would work themselves into a comfortable lead through aggressive attacks but then let the Rams back in with painful steaks of serve-receive errors. All three sets were close, but the Rams’ consistency paid off in dividends and they pulled off the overall win.
This JV team should be very proud of their aggressive offense and scrappy coverage. We have room to grow on our serve-receive defense and setting the block across the net. Last but not least, huge shout out to the hustle and hard work from Raegan Lawrence who isn’t always mentioned but sets our offense in motion. Though the Rams pulled out on top this weekend, these were very well matched games. Both sides of the net executed terrific volleyball skills. It will be fun to continue this rivalry with the Rams. Well done Bucs!
Final Scores:
Friday: 24-26, 19-25, 25-12, 25-17, 11-15
Saturday: 18-25, 19-25, 17-25