Varsity Volleyball Gets Bitten by the Vandegrift Vipers 3-0

Chloe Boyd, Dreamcatcher Editor-in-Chief| October 24, 2021

  • At a Varsity volleyball game against one of Westwood’s biggest rivals, Peyton Ferree 22′ launches a volleyball towards the Vandegrift Vipers. “Our hits have definitely been better,” said Laure Giansante 23′, a Junior Varsity Lady Warrior. This is about halfway through the set, and the score seems to be in favor of the Vipers.

    Chloe Boyd
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  • At a group huddle after a time out, the Varsity Lady Warriors decide how to best handle the next part of the game. “Our energy was a little down,” said Ella Wood 23’, a Junior Varsity Lady Warrior. The huddles were essential to keeping morales high, and the score was tight enough that our team had to stay concentrated in order to win. Unfortunately for this game, the Vipers ended up getting the best of us.

    Chloe Boyd
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  • About to hit a kill, one of our Lady Warriors steps up to the net to try and get that next point. This game was a close call, as both the Lady Warriors and the Vandegrift Vipers were valiant in their efforts to stay on top. The competition was high, and all the players were concentrated. “They had really good blocks and defense was really good,” said Laure Giansante 23′, a Junior Varsity Lady Warrior. The game would soon come to an end, however, with the Vipers just barely defeating us. Whenever a set was over, they’d win by only a few points.

    Chloe Boyd
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The varsity volleyball team played against the Vandegrift Vipers on Friday, October 22. It was a riveting, edge-of-your-seat game. The Lady Warriors made several attempts to make up for losses made by the Vipers outstanding blocking, but to no avail. It was a neck-and-neck game for the majority of the time, but unfortunately, the Vipers got the best of the Warriors in the end.

“I think they could do better, but I didn’t think they played their worst, honestly,” Laure Giansante 23’ said. “They had really good blocks and defense was really good.”

In the first set, the Lady Warriors seemed to have an excellent head start of 18 to 14, but this proved to be a momentary victory. The score shifted to 21-15, with the Vipers winning. The Lady Warriors ended up making an amazing save, adding points to the scoreboard in their best efforts to keep up. In the following time out, the score was tied 22, and once again the two teams were neck-and-neck. A few moments after the time out, Lola Fernandez 23’ made an incredible dig which tied the score again at game point. At the end of the first set, the Lady Warriors missed and the other team ended up with the win by a mere two points, with 26-24.

The second set was another rising air of anticipation. The Vipers started out strong with continuous attacks. The Lady Warriors began to pick up the pace with their blocking tactics, slowly catching up to Vandegrift. The Vipers began to lose their grip, switching the score and giving the Warriors the lead. Fernandez made another two incredible saves, and Peyton Ferree 22’ was vicious in a kill. The other team continued to miss blocking opportunities, but still ended up staying ahead of the Warriors. The Vipers really start biting with blocks and kills, but after some real attempts from the Lady Warriors, we match their score of 21. Another tie motivates us into some tough final moments, but the Vipers finish up the second set with 26-24.

“Our energy was a little down,” said Ella Wood 23’. “We have some close friends [on Varsity], but the rest of them, we really don’t know. Not really.”

The whole team seemed to be aware of the stakes. If the Lady Warriors didn’t win this third set, there’d be no hope of winning this game. But, of course, the Vipers start out strong with a score of 5-0, and after a rather impressive attempt to block, the ball ends up scoring us a point. Ferree makes a strong attempt to block the Vipers’ dig, but they end up receiving the point. The Vipers stepped up their game, and the score continued to go to them with 12-6. Unfortunately, the Lady Warriors have a poor block followed by a weak attempt to keep the ball in the air. The Vipers kept biting, which gave  the Warriors another two points, and a hitting error left the score with a big gap. An amazing block by Phia Parent ‘22  gave the Lady Warriors momentum to continue pushing. Another incredible block by Mckayla (KK) Ross ‘22 helped the Warriors close the gap. A disappointing ending left with a final score of 25-20, with the Vipers defeating the Lady Warriors.

The Lady Warriors final district game will be against district rivals, the Round Rock Dragons, Oct. 26 at Round Rock High School.