Wednesday, October 14, 2015

SPOTLIGHT: Atlee knocks off Hanover in Girls Volleyball in Super 6 Battle

(RVASN correspondent Taylor Luck filed this report from Tuesday night's match between the third-ranked Hanover Hawks and fourth-ranked Atlee Raiders...)


Hanover High School was electric Tuesday night as two Super 6 girls volleyball teams faced off in Hanover’s Bird Cage. The third ranked Hanover Hawks came into the night with a 15-3 record, having dropped a match since September 5th. The fourth ranked Atlee Raiders were 16-4, and out for revenge after being defeated 3-0 at the hands of the Hawks on September 22nd. They were without senior leader Molly Jarvis in the first meeting due to injury, but Jarvis returned and made her presence known.

Atlee gained an early advantage in set 1 and would hold on to that lead for the entire set, winning 25-23 and taking a 1-0 lead. Set 2 was all Hanover as the Hawks jumped out to a 6-2 lead early, and run away with the game on a 14-2 run to win the set 25-13. Set 3 was dead even for its duration, up until Jarvis deflated Hanover with a ground shaking spike to give Atlee a 23-22 lead, late in the set. Atlee would score the final 4 points of the set, winning 25-23, and taking a 2-1 advantage heading into set 4. Set 4 saw both teams rallying back and forth, but neither was able to gain any sort of advantage until the Hawks went on a 10-4 run to win the set 25-17 and send the match to a decisive fifth set. Set 5 was extremely close as expected, and remained tied at 14 before Atlee finally broke the draw and won the set 16-14, also taking the match 3-2.

Now sitting pretty at 17-4, the Raiders split the season series against Hanover with the win. Jarvis was likely the best player on the court tonight, totaling 16 kills, 7 blocks, and 3 digs. Lauren O’Reilly contributed 8 kills, 2 blocks, and 2 digs; and Claire Baldacci scored up 27 assists, 7 digs, and 2 aces in the winning effort. Atlee heads to Varina on Thursday, before finishing their road trip against Patrick Henry on Tuesday, the 20th.

Despite the loss, Hanover is undoubtedly a top team in the region. Sophomore Kylie Tuxford racked up a whopping 25 kills tonight, while Miranda Hall got 12 kills, 2 aces, and 2 blocks. Senior Kendall Pully ended the match with 52 assists, 3 kills, 5 digs, and 1 block. The 15-4 Hawks finish this week away at Highland Springs, before returning home next Tuesday against Lee-Davis.

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