Lillian Otto Hopewell hosted Northgate on Thursday night for their 2nd home game of the season, and 2nd straight section matchup.
Sometimes, one team just has the edge, and that was definitely the case tonight. But even in those kinds of games, it’s all about staying focused and playing with the kind of intensity that’ll carry you through tougher matchups down the road.
Hopewell did exactly that, taking care of business in straight sets and improving to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the section.
The Vikings came out hot in each set, jumping out to leads of 9-1, 10-1, and 11-1 and they never really let up. Solid serves, tough defense, and a strong offensive attack left no doubt who was in control all night. Northgate had a little push back late in the first set, narrowing the score to 21-9 at one point, but Hopewell closed it out strong and didn’t look back.
Sets 2 and 3 were even more one-sided, with Hopewell locking in and holding Northgate to just 6 points in each.
The 3 stars of the game tonight were Bella Ceccarelli, Hannah McDowell and Mikayla Kurta. Ceccarelli sets tonight were very accurate, creating plenty of opportunities for the hitters. McDowell’s serves tonight were on point and Kurta was her normal offensive and defensive force at the net with another solid night of blocks and kills on her birthday.
Here is a recap of each set:
Set 1
1-0 Hopewell on the board first with a kill from Bree Inderelst
3-0 Hannah McDowell with an ace
5-0 Mikayla Kurta with a block on a Northgate return.
7-0 Hopewell starts off with 7 straight points off McDowell serve.
9-1 Inderelst with a kill off a Bella Ceccarelli set
10-2 Kurta with a strong kill that catches the back line
13-3 Inderelst with a good read on a long serve
16-3 Inderelst with an ace
20-5 Inderelst dig to a Ceccarelli set finished by a Kurta strike to the back right corner
21-9 A Northgate error ends their slight run
23-9 Kurta with another block
25-9 McDowell with back-to-back strong serves to end Set 1
Set 2
1-0 Hopewell gets on the board first on a Northgate double
3-0 Davis dig to a Ceccarelli set ends with another Kurta kill on the back line
6-1 Davis with an ace
9-1 Davis with another ace
10-1 Lahna Murray with a nice block
14-3 McDowell with a nice kill from the left side
16-4 Murray with a strong kill from the middle
17-4 Marina Pinchotti with a nice pass to a Ceccerelli set to Kurta for the finish
22-5 McDowell with back-to-back aces
23-6 A set by Alya Pisano to Inderelst for the kill
24-6 Pisano with back-to-back strong serves to close out Set 2
Set 3
1-0 Hopewell on the board first with a nice defensive return
3-0 Kurta back-to-back strong kills
5-0 McDowell having a strong night serving with an ace
7-0 Davis pass to Ceccarelli with another beautiful set that Kurta smashes for a point
9-1 Ella Goodrum with a nice back row read on a serve
11-1 Ceccarelli with an ace
13-2 Goodrum with a great dig to keep the play alive. Kurta then blocks the Northgate return.
16-4 Murray with another nice kill
17-4 Pinchotti serves for an ace
19-4 Murray with a running kill from the right side
21-4 Pinchotti serves for another point
24-5 Davis with a nice read on a close long serve
25-6 Hopewell closes out the match on a Goodrum serve that Northgate returns out to the left.
Hopewell Varsity will be in action this weekend at Moon High School in a tournament. Section plays then returns on Tuesday, September 9th at Hopewell for a much-anticipated match vs Avonworth that you should absolutely make an effort to come and watch.
Earlier in the night, the Junior Varsity team moved their record to 3-1 on the season, taking care of Northgate in 2 sets, 25-9 and 25-11.
