Girls’ Volleyball cruises past Mark Keppel to win two straight

By Riley Segal

Staff Writer

Photos by Matt Scholtz

The girls’ volleyball team swept Mark Keppel High School in another three-set win at home. Though the Tigers were fatigued from the previous game against Campbell Hall, the Aztecs provided little challenge, which was evident in the resulting scores of 25-3, 25-7, and 25-12.

In the first set, the Tigers dominated with ease. The Aztecs had poor serve-receive, often shanking balls out-of-bounds. While the Aztecs were able to seize control of strong serves from players such as junior Madison Hirano, they were not able to capitalize on their opportunities. The Aztecs offensive attempts were often free balls that allowed the Tigers to soundly put the ball away. Blocks from junior Kate Kutzer also helped with the sound defense. Though the Aztecs gave up many points from their own mistakes, the Tigers did perform well offensively. Strong hits from junior Molly Feldmeth, senior Taleen Mitchell, and Kutzer contributed to the advanced lead the Tigers had on the Aztecs. The Aztecs could only gain three points, and the set ended in a score of 25-3.

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Due to the strong first set, players from the bench were also able to clock in their varsity minutes. Freshman Kimi Brown and junior Ariana Woodworth were two of the substitutes that came in with the same intensity as the starters. Like the first set, the Tigers gained a strong lead with solid offense, with consistent kills from Kutzer and Mitchell. Junior Ellie Kutzer also subbed in, and provided strong defense for South Pas. Consistent blocks from sophomores Madison Saito and Isabel Blüml additionally supported the Tigers’ hefty lead. The set ended with a score of 25-7, with small improvement from the Aztecs.

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Mark Keppel put up its strongest fight in the third set, but to no avail. Feldmeth, Kutzer, Mitchell and Saito continued with their powerful hitting, and Hirano provided solid defense. However, the Tigers made more errors than in the previous sets, which allowed the Aztecs to earn more points. They kept pushing, and ultimately came out victorious due to the fact that players were still able to make the necessary plays to earn their points. The set ended in a score of 25-12 with the Aztecs attempting to put up a fight, though the Tigers just knocked their efforts down.

“We worked really well together as a team, but we still have work to do. We need to improve on running our plays because we’re not executing them as well as we should be,” Feldmeth said. “A lot of players came in off the bench, and we played well no matter who was in.”

The Tigers were satisfied with their overall performance, as they felt they played stronger as a team. Though the Aztecs did not come close to the strength of the Tigers, South Pas is sure that they will continue to compete in the games to come the way they did against Mark Keppel.

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“We had so much energy coming into this game and we were always talking to each other. I’m confident that we’re going to do really well this season and get a lot of wins,” Mitchell said. “We’re really hoping that people will come out and support us.”

The Tigers hope to continue to be victorious and raise their record to 3-0 in their next game on at home on Tuesday, September 8, against powerhouse Polytechnic School.