On Thursday, Sept. 30, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School women’s varsity volleyball team held their eighth match of the season, hoping to achieve an even record of 4-4. After their victory against a strong Fort Lauderdale High School team, the Eagles sought to have another confident display on the team’s senior night.

Their opponent for the match was the Deerfield Beach High Bucks with a 6:00 p.m. start. Prior to the match, the Eagles’ senior players were honored for the efforts across the years they spent with the team and many brought family members to watch their final home volleyball match. With many of the players spending close to their entire high school journey on the team, the game was an opportunity to look back on their best moments and to contribute to the future of the Eagles’ volleyball program.

“It’s really important to leave a legacy behind, and you need to make sure to bring both teams together [JV and Varsity] no matter the drama or whatever else is going on,” senior Jillian Caroll (7) said.

Caroll served as the team’s captain for the season and showed why she earned the position from the very start. As the game began, Deerfield was aggressive early on and jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first set. After a few strong serves from Caroll and libero Stephanie Villar (6), the Eagles were able to claw back and score 10 points consecutively.

From that point forward in the first set, both teams competed at a high level and traded points for an extended period. When the ball traveled from side to side, a decisive factor for the Eagles in claiming the first set was the strong strikes of outside hitter Jordan Robertson (4).

Robertson was able to end several sequences with a powerful ball onto the Deerfield side of the court, leading to the Eagles 25-20 victory in the first set, starting out with a 1-0 lead overall.

“At first I did not expect to play as a junior because of the senior night occasion, but on the court I still had to take a leadership role because a lot of the team relies on me so I work hard to try and live up to expectations,” Robertson said.

The second set was much of the same intense action, although this time around it was the Eagles who jumped out to an early lead of 11-5. Robertson, Villar and Caroll continued to impress in this set, each earning crucial points for the Eagles and creating opportunities for their teammates.

In an even stronger display than the first set, the Eagles claimed a 25-17 victory in the second set. With the best-of-3 format for high school volleyball games, winning sets one and two was enough for the Eagles to claim a victory overall for their senior night, reaching a record of 4-4.

“Senior night is always special. It’s here to support and honor the seniors, and it always feels better to leave with a win on senior night,” coach Allison Denney said.

The Eagles look forward to their next match at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 4, traveling to face the Boca Raton Bobcats away from home.