Lillian Otto Hopewell traveled to Avonworth on a rare Monday night for a rematch of their earlier season matchup. Avonworth brought the energy, with their Marching Band in the stands blasting pregame music to fire up the crowd.
Hopewell opened Set 1 strong, jumping out to an early 4-1 lead. Avonworth answered quickly, pulling even at 9-9 before using their offense to build momentum. Despite Hopewell’s efforts, the Antelopes pulled away late to take the first set 25-19.
In Set 2, Avonworth again came out strong, grabbing an early edge. Hopewell kept within striking distance, but Avonworth’s impressive hitting attack pushed the lead to 17-11 and they closed out the set 25-17.
Set 3 was a different story. Hopewell dug deep and, behind strong defense and key blocks, found their rhythm. Inderelst, Boyd, Murray, and McDowell delivered multiple kills and tips to keep Avonworth off balance. The Vikings stretched their lead to six points late and closed out the set, extending the match.
Hopewell carried that fight into Set 4, taking a three-point lead early on an impressive back row kill from Inderelst. The Antelopes, fueled by their home crowd, clawed back to tie the score at 12, 15, and 16 in a tense stretch before edging ahead 22-17. Out of a timeout, the Vikings responded with Mikalya Kurta chipping in with several big kills, McDowell added an ace, and Inderelst slammed another kill to close the gap to just one point. But Avonworth held on in the final moments, winning the last two points to secure the match and hand Hopewell their first loss of the season (8-1 section, 10-1 overall).
The Vikings have nothing to hang their heads about after such a hard-fought battle on the road against a strong opponent. The back row of Inderelst, Davis, Ella Goodrum & Marina Pinchotti were under siege most of this match. Road matches like this are exactly why the team loves and doesn’t take for granted the opportunity to play in front of their home fans in Hopewell. The good news? With the quick turnaround, the girls are right back in action tonight at Northgate, ready to bounce back and gear up for a strong finish to the regular season.
Here is a recap of each set:
Set 1
1-0 Bella Ceccarelli with a perfect push shot to the back corner to put Hopewell on the board
3-1 Inderelst with a kill to the middle
4-1 Ceccarelli with an ace
6-4 Lahna Murray with a great kill off a Ceccarelli set from a Goodrum pass
7-6 Inderelst with a kill to the back corner. A beautiful pass from Addison Davis.
9-9 Avonworth with a long serve
10-10 Hannah McDowell with a kill off a cross court set from Ceccarelli
12-16 Avonworth bringing the offense with some powerful kills. Hopewell timeout
14-16 Inderelst with a great swing for a kill
15-21 A net call ends the Avonworth run
17-24 Avonworth serves long on set point
18-24 Murray with a block
19-24 Davis with an ace
19-25 Avonworth wins set 1
Set 2
1-2 Hopewell on the board off a Murray kill
3-6 Murray with a kill to stay in reach early
5-7 Inderelst serving with great defense behind it
7-9 Back and forth pace early in the match
7-11 Avonworth on a run forcing a Hopewell timeout
9-13 McDowell with a kill
10-15 A good read by Marina Pinchotti on a long serve
11-15 Avery Boyd with a kill
11-17 Avonworth a hitting machine tonight. Hopewell timeout
12-20 A long serve by Avonworth stops the run
13-20 Boyd with another kill off a Ceccarelli set
14-21 Inderelst with a strong kill
14-23 #10 for Avonworth is having a night
15-23 McDowell with a kill
17-24 Avonworth with a net
17-25 Avonworth wins set 2
Set 3
3-3 Hopewell wins a crazy rally to tie up the game early
5-3 Avery Boyd with an awesome block
8-6 An Avonworth serving error gives Hopewell a point
12-10 Hopewell maintaining a narrow lead on an Avonworth error
12-12 Avonworth ties the game back up
14-13 Davis with a great free ball to put Hopewell back in front.
16-13 Hopewell extends the lead forcing an Avonworth Timeout
18-16 Inderelst with a kill
20-17 Murray with a beautiful tip into the gap
22-17 McDowell with back-to-back strong kills
23-17 Avery Boyd tips one over for a point
24-17 Inderelst with an ace to force set point.
25-18 Hopewell wins set 3 to stay in the match.
Set 4
2-2 Set 4 starts off back and forth
3-3 Murray with an amazing block on a powerful Avonworth hit
4-3 Inderelst with an ace
5-3 McDowell with a kill
6-5 Murray tips one over a block for a point
9-7 McDowell with another kill
10-7 Inderelst with a back row kill
12-12 Avonworth climbs back into the match
15-15 Murray with a kill to keep things tied
16-16 McDowell hammers an overpass for a point
17-19 McDowell with a kill to stop a run
17-22 Avonworth extends their lead, forcing a timeout.
18-23 Mikalya Kurta with a spike on an overpass
19-23 Kurta with another kill
20-23 McDowell with an ace
21-23 Hopewell’s defense forces an Avonworth error
22-23 Hopewell gets to within 1 on an Inderelst kill
22-25 Avonworth fights back, winning the final 2 points to close out the match.
Earlier in the night, the Junior Varsity team, coming off their impressive tournament championship at Beaver, played an extremely competitive match against Avonworth.
After winning the first set, 25-18, Avonworth fought back, winning the second set 25-21 forcing the JV to a third set for only the 3rd time all season. In the third set, it was a back-and-forth battle early, with ties at 2-2 & 8-8. Hopewell grabbed at 2-point lead, but Avonworth fought back tying it again at 11-11. Avonworth got on late run in the match to 15, with a lead of 11-14 and ultimately finished it off at 15-12, giving Hopewell just their second loss of the season.
Here’s a recap of the JV sets:
Set 1
1-1 Hopewell on the board with a Madeline Early kill
2-1 Lily Oldham with an ace
4-5 Blosnick with a strong kill
6-6 Blosnick with another kill off the pass from Tessa Burgess and set from Sydney Malackanich
7-7 Oldham with a tip
8-7 Babinsack with an ace
11-11 Jiselle Cain with a strong kill
13-14 Hopewell with a nice defensive play forcing an error
18-17 Oldham with a kill
20-17 Babinsack on a serving run with an ace
21-17 Cain with another kill after a great rally
25-18 Murray with back-to-back aces to close out set 1
Set 2
1-0 Hopewell on the board with an Avonworth return that takes out Coach Parker
2-0 Murray with an ace
4-3 A wide serve from Avonworth keeps Hopewell in front
5-3 Cain with a block
7-8 Avonworth with a long serve to stop a run
10-10 Blosnick with a strong serve forcing a long Avonworth return
11-12 Oldham with a nice kill right into the middle
12-13 Oldham with a big swing for kill to the back corner
15-16 Burgess with an ace
17-18 Ava Ray with an ace
17-20 Avonworth on a quick run forcing a Hopewell timeout
18-20 The timeout works, freezing the Avonworth server
19-21 Oldham with a kill to the middle
20-22 Oldham places another one in the campfire
21-25 Avonworth wins forcing a 3rd set
Set 3
1-2 A long Avonworth serve gets Hopewell on the board
2-2 Cain with a hit forcing a long return
3-4 Cain with a strong kill
5-4 Oldham with some great serves to grab a lead
6-8 Avonworth back in front
8-8 Sydney with a serve forcing an error
10-8 Hopewell back in front now
11-11 Avonworth ties it back up
11-12 Avonworth takes the lead, timeout Hopewell
11-14 Avonworth with match point
12-14 A long serve keeps Hopewell alive
12-15 Avonworth with a block to win the match giving Hopewell only their second loss on the season.
