After first round, varsity girls tied for third
Dig Pink Night set for Oct. 7, Raiders open up second round of district against Hendrickson
During the Cedar Ridge match, junior Averi Foster goes up for the kill. The Raiders won the home match in four games.
October 7, 2014
After the first round of district in the new 6A, the varsity volleyball team is tied for third place.
“It’s a huge change, it’s very different compared to the last district we were in,” senior Peyton Planchard said. “It’s definitely more competitive and a huge transition, but I think we are responding well.”
The team opened up district play in the new 6A district at home, playing Stony Point, Sept. 9. The Raiders won in four games, 25-20, 25-19, 15-25, 25-19.
“Winning the first district game of the season is really rare for us,” junior Averi Foster said. “It gave us hope that we could actually do well this season and make it to playoffs.”
They dropped their next match at Hendrickson in three sets, Sept. 12, but bounced back with a 3-2 win over Round Rock at home, Sept. 16. The girls won the first game 25-23, only to lose the next two, 14-25, 24-26. The team regrouped to win the two final games, 25-23, 15-12 to clinch the match.
Senior Taylor Black sets the ball during the Westwood match, Sept. 26.
“Whenever we lose a game it shuts us (the team) down and we usually continue to lose,” senior Haley Hutchinson said. “Instead we just focused on playing together as a team and we came back and won.”
The team followed it up with two losses, 3-1 at McNeil, Sept. 23 and 3-0 at Westwood.
“We were keeping balls in game and our defense was great, but we just weren’t terminating,” senior Emily Hanaway said. “We were too focused on not making errors that we weren’t aggressive enough.”
To close out the final game of the first round, the Raiders defeated Cedar Ridge in four games, 25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 25-20.
“They game was awesome,” Hanaway said. “We came out strong, we won the first set which is good. The second set we should have kept our focus more. I felt we controlled the game.”
The crowd has also been a factor in game control. The girls have actively courted fans via Twitter, asking students to pack the house for home matches.
“We love it,” Planchard said. “All the cheers that they do really help us on and off the court and they give us motivation to be better and play harder.”
The girls start the second round of district, Tuesday, playing Hendrickson at home at 6:30 p.m. The match is the team’s Dig Pink night, where the fans will don pink shirts and the team will wear pink accessories, including pink socks.
“Dig Pink is a great way to raise awareness and money in a volleyball atmosphere,” Foster said. “It’s a big deal because a lot of volleyball moms have had breast cancer and it’s important for us to support them.”
VARSITY VOLLEYBALL DISTRICT, currently third in district
9-9 Stony Point 3-1 W
9-12 Hendrickson 3-0L
9-16 Round Rock 3-2W
9-19 Pflugerville 3-0 W
9-23 McNeil 3-1 L
9-26 Westwood 3-0 L
9-30 Cedar Ridge 3-1 W
Oct. 7 Hendrickson 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 10 Round Rock 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 14 Pflugerville 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 17 McNeil 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 21 Westwood 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 24 Cedar Ridge 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 28 Stony Point 6:30 p.m.
*bold denotes home matches
