On Tuesday, the volleyball team faced off against Ida. B Wells, one of the team’s toughest league matchups this year, being that they both were in the top three teams in the PIL last year.
The team started off well in the first set, getting off to an early lead, but Wells didn’t take long to answer back, getting a few points of their own. The first set came down to the wire with the score at one point being 24-24, the game was tense and the crowd was roaring with both of the team benches standing up to cheer on the players on the court. After two quick plays McDaniel grabbed one point, and senior Anna Gladwin jumped up and hit the ball on the other side to win the set.
The second set started off similar to the first. The squad got an early 5-0 lead; however, Wells pushed back and tightened up the game scoring five points to McDaniel’s seven. After the Well’s comeback, McDaniel went on a scoring rampage, winning the second set with ease 25-15.
The third set is where McDaniel let off gas a little bit, Wells got a 4-1 lead early, setting them up in a prime position to win the set. Despite Well’s early lead, the team mounted a comeback of their own bringing the game within four points, with the score at one point being 16-12 in Well’s favor. Upsettingly, this comeback wasn’t enough for the team to win the set with Wells winning the third set 25-16.
The fourth set was pivotal for McDaniel, the team needed to finish the game off before Wells could win another set to tie up the game. McDaniel was dominant during this set, maintaining a lead throughout, and by the end of the fourth set, the team could put this game in the win column with the final set score being 25-22 with the final point being a sideout from Wells. The crowd immediately stormed the court to celebrate with the player after the win.
This game specifically meant a lot to the team because this is the first time the volleyball program has beat Ida B. Wells in two decades. Head coach Kyla Henry talked about how important this win was for the program’s history.
“Our team performed super well today, and we haven’t beat Wells in 20 plus years, so that’s really good,” Henry said.
Henry also talked about some of the preparation going into this game.
“To prepare we have just been working out, we’ve been watching films, going over plays and trying to figure out where their weaknesses are,” Henry said.
Junior Lilly Mae Buerkle also had something to share about the preparation for this game.
“We’ve been practicing for weeks even before the season started, and Wells has always been one of our biggest rivals, so we really had to lock in and make sure we were ready to play,” Buerkle said, “and I think we did a really good job.”
For all of the game, Henry was very confident with her team even when they lost the third set.
“Honestly I wasn’t even worried when we lost the third set to Wells, and we knew we were gonna come back the fourth set, so there wasn’t a worry in my mind at all,” Henry said.
Overall the team had another great performance bringing their record to 4-1 on the season.
