It was a good day for Middlesex volleyball on Saturday October 7 when both the Varsity and JV teams earned straight sets victories against Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass.
The varsity team capitalized on their aggressive serving, with aces earned right away by co-captain and libero Nina Huttemann '18, who led the team with consistent perfect passes. Her opening service run was followed by an immediate sideout with a perfect serve receive pass by outside hitter Hadley Jevon '19 to setter Defne Colak '18, who assisted the kill by co-captain and outside hitter Avery Light '18. Defne then rotated back to serve, and her great run notched 8 points for the Zebras (she totaled 7 aces and 23 assists in the match). The Zebras continued to extend their lead, with kills by middle hitter Natalie Burden '18, Avery, Hadley, and middle hitter Kiley Briand '20. A long service run by co-captain Mimi Larrieux (who totaled 11 aces in the match) put Middlesex at set point, and the first set ended 25-12 after an unforced error.
The Penguins came out stronger in the second set as they adapted to the Zebras' tough offense with stronger defensive play at the net resulting in a number of stuff blocks. The Zebras made adjustments of their own, however, and were still able to pull ahead early, again bolstered by the strong serving of the whole team and great defense led by Nina, who stayed on her toes to pass whatever came over the net, and the second set ended 25-16.
The final set featured more quality hits and kills by Middlesex. One particularly outstanding sideout began with a great dig by defensive specialist Sevilla Jin '21 to Defne, who set up a kill by Avery. A crushing kill by Mimi on the next play was followed by another by Hadley, both assisted by Defne. Sophia Poplyk '21 rotated in to serve, and her serve was too tough for the Penguins to handle, bringing the score to match point. After trading sideouts, the final set ended 25-17.
Middlesex (7-1 overall, 2-0 ISL) now look ahead to an exciting week of league competition. The team will travel to Governor's Academy on Wednesday, October 11 for a 3:00pm start before hosting the Groton School, which will be the first ever varsity volleyball contest between these two schools, for Groton Weekend on Friday, October 13 at 2:00PM.
