The Middlesex Volleyball team traveled to Governor's Academy for a Tuesday afternoon match after a long morning of classes, and both JV and varsity overcame their road weariness to bring home wins—2-0 for JV and 3-1 for varsity.
The first set for varsity opened propitiously with a big stuff block by middle hitter Morgan Clapp '22 assisted by opposite Natalie McCall '21, making Governor's think twice about how they attacked the ball. Outside hitter Sydney Feeney '22 put together a solid run that put the Zebras on top, but various unforced errors and miscommunication kept Middlesex from solidifying their lead to take control of the set, and the first set ended 19-25.
Middlesex fell behind early in the second set, as well, on a good service run by one of Governor's top servers. Setter Sophia Poplyk '21 had a nice run, which included an ace, that evened the scoreline. A few plays later, during a five-point service run by defensive specialist Sofia Dickinson '22, Poplyk set up a big kill by Sydney. After Sofia's run, Middlesex earned an immediate sideout on a perfect pass by defensive specialist Emily Pyne '21 to Sofia, who set up a kill by Poplyk. Sydney then rotated back to serve, and her six-point run included three aces, and a few great rallies, one of which ended with a spectacular kill by outside hitter Katy Qin '21 after a tough dig by Sydney to Poplyk. Middlesex continued to earn first- or second-ball sideouts and extended their lead—a great serve receive by defensive specialist Angela Bi '21 to Poplyk set up a perfectly placed kill by Morgan for another sideout. The second set ended decisively on a perfect pass by Sofia to Poplyk, who assisted the kill by Katy, ending the second set 25-19, Middlesex.
The third set stayed even through the middle of the set as the two teams dug in, trading sideouts on long rallies and gritty play on both sides. Middlesex started to pull away on a great dig by Emily to Poplyk, who set up a crushing kill by Natalie. Later, with the score tied at 25-25, Morgan rotated back to serve: her first serve was returned, and Poplyk got the dig—middle hitter and captain Kiley Briand '20 stepped in for the assist, and Natalie put it away to put the score at set point, 26-25. Morgan then ended the third set with an ace, 27-25.
The fourth and final set featured more solid play on both defense and offense as Governor's stepped up their level of play, determined to extend the match. A key sideout for the Zebras came early on with a solid pass by libero Sevilla Jin '21 that allowed Poplyk to set up another kill by Natalie to put the Zebras on top—a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the set. A few plays later, during a great service run by Sydney, a perfect pass let Poplyk speed up the offense and set up a quick kill by Kiley. During a later run, this time by Emily, Morgan killed an overpass and then blocked a Governor's attack, forcing Governor's to take a timeout to regroup, but Emily came right out and dished up an ace after the timeout. A few plays later, Morgan killed another overpass to put the score at 23-21, and rotated back to serve—her first serve was returned as an attack, but Emily was right there with the dig, and Poplyk set up a big kill by Kiley (her eight for the day) to put the score at match point, and, appropriately, Morgan, who led the team with 11 kills and 6 blocks, ended the match with another ace, 25-21.
Middlesex (6-1 overall, 4-1 ISL) now look forward to traveling to Groton, Mass. for another ISL match on Friday afternoon at 2:30pm before enjoying their fall long weekend.
Video highlight link:
http://www.hudl.com/v/2C3gdP
