The girls varsity volleyball team faced off against the Valparaiso Vikings in our home gym on Thursday, Sept. 17 in a tough conference match-up. The Indians battled their rivals in a five-set marathon and unfortunately came up short-handed.
The varsity players started off on the right foot in the first set. They managed to stay a few points ahead the entire time, notching aces and kills along the way. The first set ended with a score of 25-19 in the Indians’ favor.
“I thought we played really well. It was a really good match. We were both very good teams. It was a high level of playing,” Stephanie Spigolon (12) said.
In the second set, a point-by-point competition began. Although the girls were strong throughout the game, they lost with a two point deficit by a score of 26-24. That did keep their spirits down, and they took the third set with a score of 25-21.
“[To prepare for tough matches], the coaches do some scouting sometimes, or we just know how they are. We look at their weaknesses and how we can put balls down and stuff like that. We just work on those drills in practice. We did that for Valpo a lot, and it helped with a lot of things. [Coach] Tina [Tinberg] told us we would implement them, and it really worked for the most part,” Spigolon said.
The battle continued into the fourth and fifth sets. Never letting their guard down, the Indians fought for every point and made minimal errors. However, the Vikings played strongly as well and took both sets with scores of 25-21 and 15-12, respectively.
“Even though we lost, all of us kept our heads held high because we know we battled and gave them a fight. They did not win easily. [Coach] Tina [Tinberg], [Coach Bill] Gray, all the coaches and all the girls were very proud of how we played, and we have no regrets really,” Spigolon said.
The next varsity volleyball game will take place at Lowell High School on Monday, Sept. 21.
