Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
NDSS’ girls volleyball teams got their season started off a high note at home on Thursday, with both the senior and junior clubs defeating their cross-county rival Ernestown Eagles.
The senior Golden Hawks looked to be soaring in their season opening match, cruising to a 25-8 win in their first set. Jasmina Dennis’ serves helped close out the set, igniting a long run of unanswered points for the home team.
That momentum didn’t carry over to the second set however as the Eagles responded in a big way, jumping out to a 14-7 lead. NDSS began to chip away and were able to climb back to a 23-21 deficit thanks to a five point run with Claire Kimmett serving. They couldn’t complete the comeback however, falling 25-22 to knot the match at 1-1.
Once again the Hawks got off to a slow start in the third, falling behind 10-4 before calling a timeout. Led by the blocking of Maddie Uens, the Hawks slowly whittled away at the Ernestown lead. They were down 23-21 when they turned to Emma Chatterton, whose strong serves helped the Hawks go on a five point run, winning the crucial third set 26-24.
They were forced to rally back once more in the clinching fourth set, responding from a 5-0 hole and 12-4 deficit before ultimately closing out the match in four sets with a 25-18 victory.
NDSS’ Hayley Lambert bumps the ball to help set up a return. Photo by Adam Prudhomme
“We’ve struggled with service reception for some reason,” said Hawks head coach Jill Ardern. “The girls are really trying to figure that out, which takes away the focus of the actual game, but they’ll get there.”
Arden says despite the slow starts in the final three sets, she was happy to see the team was able to respond.
“There’s perseverance there for sure,” said the coach. “We’ve got some great players who certainly didn’t demonstrate their abilities tonight. We’ll look forward to some confidence building from those girls. We got some great leadership from Hayley (Lambert) and Maddie.”
With most of the roster comprised of Grade 11s, Ardern says there will be room to grow this season and it bodes well for the future of the program.
Meanwhile NDSS’ junior team needed just the minimum to secure a win in their season opener, sweeping ESS in three sets.
Both NDSS’ volleyball teams will be on the road Tuesday, when they take on Regi.