Lillian Otto The Hopewell Girls Volleyball traveled to rival Quaker Valley Tuesday night for a much-anticipated matchup against the section winner and WPIAL champions from last year.
The girls started off hot, firing on all cylinders right from the start in route to a 25-17 first set.
The second set started out in a similar fashion, but QV climbed their way back into it and it ended up a tight and competitive battle that went back and forth right down the end. With the score tied 24-24, Hopewell and QV had a phenomenal rally which looked like it was going end at least 3 times before spectacular plays were made to keep it alive. Hopewell ended up winning the pivotal point on a QV net fault and then won the set on the next serve.
In the third set, QV hung around early, grabbing an early 5-3 lead before Inderlest went on an absolute tear serving for 11 straight Hopewell points.
QV battled back late though, winning 5 straight points with Hopewell having match point. Hopewell ultimately gone it done though, moving their record to 3-0 on the season.
The 3 stars of the game tonight were Mikayla Kurta, Bree Inderlest & Addison Davis. Kurta was an offensive force tonight leading the team in kills and dominating the front of the net. Inderlest and Davis both played excellent defensive games with their passing and were also very successful on the serve.
Here is a recap of each set:
Set 1
1-0 Hopewell on the board with a massive kill from Mikayla Kurta
6-2 A nice serve from Addison Davis forces a Quaker Valley error
8-3 Hannah McDowell with a nice block forces another QB error
9-3 Lahna Murray with a nice kill off a Bella Ceccarelli set
11-3 Bree Inderlest with 3 great serves in a row to widen the lead
13-5 Marina Pinchotti with an ace
16-5 Pinchotti staying hot on the serve with good defensive backup
17-10 QV puts on a rally which ends on a long serve
19-12 McDowell serve ends in a QB error
21-14 Ceccarelli with an ace
22-14 Ceccarelli with a great dig that ends up
23-14 Ella Goodrum dig to Ceccarelli set finished by a Kurta flip shot to the middle
24-15 Inderlest with a nice play at the net
25-17 Ceccarelli with a nice flip to the middle to end game 1.
Set 2
1-0 Hopewell grabs the early lead on another Kurta kill
3-1 A beautiful right-side dig by Ceccarelli to a Davis set leading to an Avery Boyd kill.
5-2 Inderlest with a kill
7-3 Pinchotti with another serve leading to a QV error
9-4 Kurta with a block to slam the door
13-9 Davis rips a line drive serve causing a QV error
14-9 Davis with an ace on another heater
16-11 Murray with a great back set to Inderlest
18-11 Inderlest with an ace
18-16 QV gets on a roll forcing a Hopewell timeout
20-16 The timeout works as Hopewell forces back-to-back errors by QV
21-19 QV fights back
22-19 Kurta with another aggressive kill
23-22 QV gets to within 1 point on flip to the middle
23-24 QV takes the lead on back-to-back aces
24-24 A good read by Hopewell on a long serve
25-24 Hopewell regains the lead on a ridiculous rally ending in a QV net fault
26-24 Davis serves on game point forcing a QV error to end game 2.
Set 3
1-0 Hopewell grabs the early lead
2-0 Kurta hammers a QV return into the back left corner
3-1 Kurta with another kill to that same spot
3-5 QV with a desperately needed run to grab a lead
5-5 Hopewell fights back to tie things back up.
7-6 An Inderlest serve causes a QV error. BIG cheer from the crowd at the 7-6 score.
8-6 Inderlest serves an ace
11-6 Hopewell’s defense regains control of the game
12-6 Another Inderlest ace
15-6 Inderlest with yet another ace
16-6 McDowell with a block
17-6 Sky Ross with a block at the net
18-6 Murray with a great kill to the back line. 11 straight points from Inderlest serve.
19-9 Murray with another kill to stop a small QV rally
20-9 McDowell with a kill to the back left corner off a Ceccarelli set
21-10 Pinchotti with a nice read on a QV serve
22-11 Kurta with another strong kill
24-14 Kurta with yet another kill
25-19 Hopewell finally ends the match after QV scored 5 straight points.
Hopewell returns home on Thursday 9/4 looking to continue building on their early season momentum taking on Northgate.
Earlier in the Junior Varsity game, Hopewell suffered their first loss of the season, but not after forcing QV to an entertaining 3rd Set.
Down 3 – 7 and then 7 to 11, they fought back to tie it up at 13-13 and then again at 14-14, before ultimately losing 15-17 in a great set.
JV Scores
Set 1 (15 – 25)
Set 2 (25 – 17)
Set 3 (15 – 17)
JV is now 2-1 on the season
