On Tuesday, Sept. 20, the women’s junior varsity and varsity volleyball games took place in the gym at Monarch High at 6:00 p.m. The teams were playing against a huge rival, Monarch. The women had been waiting for weeks to play the game, and were excited to see what the outcome of the sets would be.
“I’ve been waiting for this game all year, I can’t wait to take on the team all my friends play on from my travel team outside of school,” libero Julie Piedra said before the game.
The sets began with JV, who ended up playing only two sets. only loosing by a two-three points each time. The first set score was 25-20 with Monarch winning, and the second set was 25-19, Monarch defeating Douglas again. With great sets that allowed other Douglas players to score points, the Lady Eagles were able to catch up, but could not defeat Monarch.
The varsity women played right after the first sets had ended. The girls were ready for the game and excited to play against their toughest opponent because the women on Monarch are very tall and have an advantage to get the ball over the net.
With outstanding plays by middle hitter Jessica Lopresti, the team was able to avoid Monarch scoring many points, coming close to beating them and even winning two of the sets. Lopresti was dominating the court and kept the ball from hitting the ground multiple times. As well, defensive specialist Nicole Anderson was very strong on defense and passed the ball perfectly to other players so they were able to score. As a result of these efforts, they came very close to winning each set but lost by only a few points each time. The first set score was 25-17 with Douglas winning, the second set was 25-23 with Monarch winning, the third set was 25-22 with Douglas winning, the fourth set was 25-23 with Monarch winning, and the fifth set was 15-13 with Monarch winning.
Spectators are proud but disappointed for the girls. They are encouraging the girls that they will beat Monarch next time.
“It was a very exciting game to watch. The girls came so close to winning each time but I am proud of their performance anyways,” parent Kate Lohuis said.
