2009 Girls Varsity Volleyball

In our opening match of the season, Big Red built confident leads in each of the sets. A ten point service streak by lower setter Lauren Lee dominated the second set. Outside hitting was led by Christina Poa with seven kills, including a thunderous attack in the third set. This was the first varsity match for five players and even returning players were adjusting to new positions. There were definitely some first match jitters that we will have to work out as we develop confidence and learn our positions.

Submitted by Coach Saltman.

Big Red traveled to Northfield Mount Hermon and split matches with NMH and Hotchkiss. In the NMH match, we received serve well, communicated well, and played a consistent game. The pace of the game was slow, making it difficult to get into an offensive rhythm. Service streaks by lowers Lauren Lee and Shinri Kamei gave us a decisive edge. The match ended on a great tip by Lauren Lee, fooling the NMH defense.

It was clear during warm-ups that the Hotchkiss match was going to be a different kind of volleyball. The defending NE champs displayed excellent ball control and a powerful attack. The match proved to be one of the most exciting displays of quality volleyball in recent memory. From the opening serve it was a fast paced, heavy hitting match. Hotchkiss received our first serve and attacked out of the middle for a quick kill. We countered on the next ball with a Tina Lipson kill from the middle. Some points were quick and some were extended rallies, but nearly every point displayed powerful offense by one or both teams. The rallies kept the fans (and the coach) on the edge of their seats, as players dug hard driven balls and ran down balls that were deflected away. Hannah Hebl led with ten digs and Louise Breen recorded five blocks on the day. Jackie Yoon took more than half the serve receives, setting up the offense. It was unfortunate to come out behind in such a well-played match, but everyone on the team had such a great time playing excellent volleyball that the outcome seemed secondary. We hope that our level of play in this match will set the pace and establish our goals for the remainder of the season.

Submitted by Coach Saltman

We have come to expect close matches with Choate, and this was no exception. Each set was close, with a lead change late in the set. We got off to a very slow start, as we looked sluggish and couldn’t get a decent pass off the serve. After going down 4-10, we slowly regained some confidence and tied the score at 19, only to give away the next five points. In the second set, we took an early lead on Hannah Hebl’s seven serve run. Choate came back with a few runs of their own as we failed to attack effectively. The third and fourth sets were close the whole way and could have gone either way. Choate had a powerful attack from the middle that we should have been able to block better. They also shut down our outside hitters effectively. Serving was poor for both teams, as we missed 15 serves, many in important situations. We’ll definitely be practicing serving and receiving a lot this week!

Submitted by Coach Saltman

We headed to Pomfret, Connecticut to play a tri-match with Pomfret and Kingswood-Oxford. We have never competed against Pomfret before, and we haven’t played KO since the mid-90’s. The team came out slow in the first match, having difficulty with serve receive and communication. After an early time out, we picked up the pace. Scoring a few points on every server, we soon forged a lead. Unfortunately, the second set began the same way. We were caught off balance and unable to defend areas of the court to which Pomfret continually hit. Fortunately, the offense got going and we served strong. In the end, we fended off a few set points and couldn’t capitalize on a few of our own. We finally won it on Hannah Hebl’s tough serve, causing a Pomfret error.

We controlled the Kingswood match from the start. Our offense found holes and we covered our own court well. We missed too many serves, but spread them out so they weren’t in “must make” situations. Everyone got to play and played well. We ended the match on a Catherine Closmore block. Anna Lane did a nice job filling in as a substitute on the right side in both matches.

Big Red outlasted Loomis Chafee in a grueling back and forth duel. Both teams played the roles of Jekyll and Hyde, looking invincible when playing well, and looking helpless when not. In the first set, every server contributed points and we were able to read the Loomis attacks well. Loomis stepped it up in the second set and we failed to score on seven consecutive serves. The third set was close, with both teams playing well. Our serves failed us in the fourth set, as Looms attacked off good passes, finding holes and shutting down our first eight servers. Fortunately we regained our composure and started off strong in the deciding set. Facing a match point at 12-14, we forced a Loomis hitting error. Tina Lipson nearly mishit her serve, but it went over and confused the Loomis receivers, tying the match at 14. We won the next point and thought we had won the 16^th point, but play continued without a call from the referee and we lost it. We quickly regained the serve and Lauren Lee served a hard deep ball and we earned the final point. Tina Lipson and Louise Breen did a great job blocking and working around a Loomis triple block. We adjusted well defensively to the Loomis hitters. We were able to generate quality offense, particularly off of well-passed free balls. This was a big win for us, against a strong opponent.

We didn't come with our "A Game" today and lost a five set match to a fired-up St. Paul’s team. Our play was tentative and we didn't move well defensively or on help balls. Momentum shifted back and forth throughout the match. A seven point St. Paul’s service run in the first set put us behind early. We came out stronger in the second set, but allowed St. Paul’s back in late. In the third set, we went down 2-9, but came back on a Hannah Hebl five point run to take a 24-20 lead. The fourth set was the toughest, as we couldn't maintain our energy from the third. A six point St. Paul’s run to start the fifth set sealed our fate, although we did put together five point run of our own at the end. This was a tough loss for us and we will have to do a lot of work to rally for our next matches.

Submitted by Saltman

The first set of this rematch against Northfield Mt. Hermon began slowly. We were tentative defensively and let a few easy balls land on the lines, hoping they were out. However, we sided out easily, letting no server score more than one point on us. As our servers scored one or two points each, we gradually pulled ahead. We began the second set much more aggressively and built an early lead on Caroline Goessling’s six point streak. Our offense got rolling and it was clear that we got into a better rhythm, cruising to a 25-8 victory. The third set began similarly, with a four point run by Christina Poa. Six rotations later, Christina followed that up with a six point service run. It was good to see a high energy match before the Parent’s Weekend crowd.

This was a very different loss for us than our other recent losses. We played hard throughout the match and moved well defensively. At some points in the match, like during Tina Lipson’s 12 point service run in the first set, we seemed invincible. At other points, we couldn’t manage to block effectively and take away some open areas on the court. Deerfield served aggressively and always managed to eat away any lead we built up. While the loss was frustrating (we scored more points than Deerfield!), we know we played hard and never let up. On the day, Tina Lipson scored 26 points from the service line (possibly a record) and registered 14 kills. Louise Breen added 10 blocks.

In an important match for us, we elevated our game and beat a previously undefeated Worcester Academy team. With this win we will probably secure a spot in post-season play. We took an early lead in the first set with an eight point run by Caroline Goessling, but Worcester clawed back with strong defense and took a 23-20 lead. We scored the next four points to make it 24-23. From there, each team defended several set points, but Worcester eventually took it, 30-28. We cruised to an easy second set win behind a nine point run by Shinri Kamei. The next two sets were tight the whole way. In the fourth set, both teams were plagued by hitting and service errors, but we covered our court better, giving us the eventual win. Middle blockers Tina Lipson and Louise Breen led the offense, with 13 and 11 kills respectively. Jackie Yoon and Shinri Kamei had big days on defense, digging 14 and 13 hard hit balls each.

Submitted by Coach Saltman

PEA improved its record to 8 and 5 with a 3-2 win over St. Pauls, avenging a loss earlier in the season. Like the previous match, both teams had times when they played well and times when they didn’t. The first set went back and forth until we built up a lead on Christina Poa’s and Jackie Yoon’s serves. In the second and third sets, the St. Pauls defense frustrated our hitters, picking up some of our best attacks. We also had some strings of unforced errors. In the fourth set, we altered the lineup slightly and got better matchups against the St. Pauls defense. We started to move the defense around and found the holes. Our energy started to rise, creating more defensive motion and better communication. Shinri Kamei broke the game open with an eleven point service run. The fifth set was close until Christina Poa took to the line at 8-7. Careful placement of serves pushed us quickly to 14. This was a good win for us and will give us some confidence as we head into a long break before the Andover match.

Submitted by Coach Saltman.

This rivalry match always showcases exciting volleyball before a packed crowd. This day was no different, as the match was closer than the scores suggest. Andover took an early lead in the first set, but we battled back and held a 14-13 lead. A few points at a time, we saw Andover forge ahead, as we were unable to generate an effective offense. The second set was similar, as we were tied as late as 17-17. A quick four point service run for Andover pushed them ahead to stay. Christina Poa started the third set with a five point run. A fabulous Andover effort on what should have been an Exeter kill deflated us and we couldn’t get going again. On the day, we served and received well. We covered our court well against powerful Andover offense. We know we played hard but came up short against an excellent team. Now we have to rebound and prepare for a quarterfinal rematch against Loomis Chaffee on Wednesday.

Submitted by Coach Saltman

Big Red made the long trip to Loomis excited to take on a team we beat in close match earlier in the season. The match started off very close, with both teams playing excellent volleyball. With the score in our favor at 13-11, Hannah Hebl injured her ankle. We fought hard for the remainder of the set, but dropped it 20-25. The second set was all Loomis, as we were unable to focus on what we needed to do. Hannah came back for the third set, injured but pumped up to play. She immediately took control of the match. Her efforts were extraordinary, providing motivation for the entire team. Hayley Goydan also came alive hitting on the right side, giving her most prolific offensive effort in her career. We rallied to a 26-24 victory. The fourth set was back and forth. After Exeter took a 14-10 lead, Loomis started to rally and took control of the match. We know we played hard in this match and throughout the season and we’ll carry fond memories of how we worked together as a team.