On Saturday October 1, the girls' varsity volleyball team hosted BB&N on a rainy afternoon that brought a large number of community members indoors to watch the match. The biggest home crowd so far this season was not disappointed as the Zebras put on a display of serving and quality volleyball cruising to a straight sets victory.
Having missed a number of key players in practice this week because of illness, travel, and injury, Middlesex experimented with a new offensive system in the first set. Despite playing in unfamiliar positions and new rotations, the team found ways to get kills: libero Nina Huttemann '18 sent a perfect serve receive to setter Defne Colak '18 for a big kill by Avery Light '18 to rotate co-captain and outside hitter Lily Renneker '17 to the back to serve, where she dished up an ace with her aggressive jump topspin. Nina's tough jump float serve followed by Avery's topspin aces extended the Middlesex lead. Defensive specialist Stephanie Li '17 dug up a BB&N hit to Defne for a kill by middle and co-captain Lydia Paddock '17, and another kill by Lily sided out the Knights and put the Zebras at set point. A hitting error by BB&N ended the first set 25-20.
Middlesex reverted to a more familiar offense in the second and the third sets, and the squad found their groove, with more aggressive serving, good communication, consistent passing, accurate sets, and powerful attacks. Defne and setter Leyla Hotamisligil '18 mixed up the offense, setting up quality hits and kills from every position, including some nice swings by opposite hitter Hadley Jevon '19. A highlight of the second set was when Defne set up a perfect pass by Avery for a quick hit in the middle by Mimi Larrieux '18, and the second set ended 25-9.
The third set was also decisive, with a long run of 13 points off of Lily's strong serve to open the set and put Middlesex well out in front. Opposite hitter Grace Chamberlain '19 made the most of her Middlesex debut as she scored multiple kills assisted by Defne from Nina's digs to close out the set, which ended 25-8.
Middlesex improves to 6-1 overall (4-0 ISL) after an excellent week of competition. The team now looks ahead to another big week of ISL matches, starting with a road trip to the Governor's Academy on Tuesday, October 4 for a 5:15pm contest. On Saturday October 8, Middlesex hosts Milton Academy, Thayer Academy, and Nobles for an ISL quad match in the Cage. The Zebras will square off against Milton Academy at 2:00PM, after which they will face Thayer Academy in the second round of matches.
