Photo by Joe Prax
September 27-28, 2024
Courtesy of VHS J.V. Volleyball Coach
Weekend Team Accomplishments:
Bucs’ Top Servers: Eeva Tiura and Parker King (both serving 94%)
Bucs’ Top Attackers: Savannah Barton (81%) and EevaTiura (94%)
Bucs’ Top Blocker: Savanah Pruitt
Bucs’ Top Passers: Eeva Tiura, Savannah Barton, Ava Mitchell
This weekend the Junior Varsity Lady Buccaneers faced off against our conference rivals, the Monroe Catholic Rams. The Rams have a strong junior varsity squad this season, and although the Bucs set up many great offensive attacks, the Rams ultimately came out on top in both matches over the course of the weekend.
This weekend the JV Bucs were putting into action a slightly different lineup. Starting on the court for Valdez were Parker King (S), Eeva Tiura (OH, DS), Savanah Pruitt (MH), River Smelcer (S, RH), Savannah Barton (OH, DS), and Laela Scott (DS). Coming in off the bench for the first set were Laken Unger (this week playing right side), Whitney Major (MH), Cersei Strickland (MH), and Jezelle Eskilida). The Bucs held the first set to a close point-by-point battle with Smelcer delivering a challenging series of serves and Tiura attacking from outside. Strickland earned her first kill of the season and Mitchell delivered her first backrow attack. Unfortunately the Rams pulled away at the end for a 17-25 victory. In our second set against the Rams, Olivia Marchant (MH) and Harper Ownbey (RH) stepped on the court to join the battle against Monroe. Barton came alive outside with three kills from the front row along with a tremendous block from Pruitt. This set was even tighter, but a defeat all the same at 22-25. In the final set of the match the Rams pulled ahead early on and the Bucs were unable to gain back any momentum. Laela Scott had three perfect passes that led to attacks by Barton, Smelcer, and Tiura. The Rams took the set and match victory with a final score of 15-25.
The Bucs showed up bright and early to face the Rams again on Saturday morning. The Bucs were 100% from the service line in their first set with long serving streaks from King(8 serves, 2 aces) and Tiura (8 serves, 1 ace). The front line also gave a full attack with aggressive hitting from Tiura, Pruitt, and Barton (Smelcer also earned a kill from the right side). The Bucs came out on top with a 25-21 victory. The Rams pulled ahead in the next two sets, winning 18-25 and 17-25, but the Bucs were not going down without a fight. In the fourth set the Bucs cleaned up their attacks on the net and delivered a number of ace serves from Mitchell, Barton, Smelcer, and King that gave the Bucs a big victory of 25-14. Despite the energy and excitement from the fourth set, the Bucs’ communication began to falter in set five leading to a breakdown in performance. Barton found the hole just beyond her block and earned three tip kills, while King dished up a run of bullet serves, but ultimately the Rams sealed the set and match 13-15.
Tremendous development in defensive transitions and setting up offensive attacks! Well done Lady Bucs!
