By Stephanie Cochrane Posted September 24, 2008
The Junior Varsity volleyball team started off its first game with an ace served by freshman Hana Etcheverry. A good start seemed to energize the Lowry girls as no ball hit the ground without an effort to save it.
The game went back and forth with each team playing hard. Freshman Angie Herrera riled up the crowd with multiple dives and a smile on her face. Coach Cassandra Jenkins noted with a laugh, “Angie was all over the floor, she was picking everything up. She’s scrappy.”
Etcheverry and sophomore Alta Smith led the girls at the net each getting their fair share of unanswered spikes. Slipping behind Lovelock at 19-24, a fire started burning in Lowry eyes. They wanted a win and the crowd knew it. A hit to the back corner by Smith brought the serve back to Lowry.
Sophomore libero (A player specialized in defensive skills.), Elisa Higbee picked up on Smith’s determination to serve out the end of the game. Coach Jenkins smiled, “I love libero, and Elisa is doing a good job.” Lowry won the first game 26-24.
Lovelock hit a brick wall opening the second game with sophomore Tatiana Sotomayor blocking at the net. The second match resembled the first with minor errors made by lack of communication and a lot of hustle from both teams. Coach Jenkins stated, “They kind of forget to talk, but we moved people around in a few different positions; it’s still about learning on a JV team.”
With Lovelock leading at the end of the match 23-16 Lowry seemed worn out. Etcheverry shined at the end of the match bringing Lowry back 19-24 with a hard hit right over Lovelock’s hands. With only one point left determining the winner of the match, Lovelock won on a rally 25-19.
“We are still trying to find where everybody fits,” Jenkins said confidently. By game three Lowry’s communication seemed to improve and pulled ahead of Lovelock 5-3. The third game went to 15 points with both teams fighting hard to win. Fighting back and forth for the lead, Lowry and Lovelock battled it out until the end. Higbee’s serving shined again pulling Lowry ahead 14-11. Lowry finished out the game 15-12 and won the overall match two games to one.
Jenkins boasts, “I think we are going to have a winning season, I have a strong team. They are a great bunch of girls and I’m really excited to be with them.”
