On Tuesday, Oct. 17, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School women’s varsity volleyball team hosted a home game against the Monarch High School Knights. MSD played Monarch in the semifinals to determine who would move on to finals for the district championship. The Knights put up a good fight, but the Eagles came through for the win in the end.

A quick start to the game began shortly after 5 p.m., the Eagles scored the first couple points, securing the lead within the first few plays.

The game continued as outside hitter Isabella Cox (2) had constant strong kills to earn multiple points for her team, putting the Eagles ahead by five. Most spikes from the Lady Eagles ended up being kills and caused them to hold onto the lead. The Eagles dominated and won 25-17.

“We started off a bit slow but then in the end we picked it up and we got our energy up,” setter Elle Naqvi (9) said. “And we ended well and played better as a team as we went on. We can always work on communicating more and just making sure we’re playing as a team the whole time instead of individually and hype eachother up.”

To start off the second set, the points were back and forth, a close game overall. There were times when the Eagles were down by a few points, but quickly worked hard for every point to tie up the game. Middle Victoria Diaz (8) had a powerful block against Monarch’s middle, restoring the confidence in her team. The Eagles went on to win the set 25-15.

“As a team, we did really well today and whenever we made a mistake, we knew we had to get it back and worked hard for it,” Diaz said. “One thing that we can definitely work on more is covering each other more, like for blocks, and to get more consistent with our blocking.”

In the third set of the night, the Knights and the Eagles had another hard fought battle. Both teams had consistent serves and did well to recover the points they lost. Several points for the Eagles came from outside hitter Addison Walker’s (11) unreceivable spikes, implementing the strength the Eagles brought to the table. The final score of the third set was 25-17 in favor of the Eagles.

“I think that our hitters did really well and did their job,” outside hitter Rebekah Sasser (6) said. “We really came out to win, especially in the last set, and it helped prepare us for our next game. I think we can definitely work on our passing to just get it perfect, and our back row knows they need to work on that.”

The Eagles look forward to continuing their district games, and hopefully winning the finals. Leaving the gym with their heads held high, the Lady Eagles are confident they will succeed and bring home the win in the next game.

Their upcoming game is home on Wednesday, Oct. 18 against Boca High School as they will be competing in the district championship game.