Volleyball wins in straight sets

OCT 14, NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM-

Blair Volleyball showed up tonight determined to defeat the Blake Bengals, and they did just that. The Blazers breezed through their match with Blake, winning three straight games at 25-15, 25-21, and 25-14. Throughout the match (their first home-game victory) the Blazers displayed excellent communication, a greatly improved service game, and the ability to use their opposing team's weaknesses in their favor.

Throughout the match, Blair's service game gave them an obvious edge over the Bengals. Senior Amanda Hsiung's jump serve was extremely dominant, and allowed Blair to put together several crucial rallies. Seniors Emily Ramsay and Lauren Wong also served well. The Blazers also showed remarkable resiliency, quickly recovering from mis-hit balls and communication errors.

Blair's talented front row, which continued to amaze against Blake, was assisted by the back row, which tonight came up with all the right digs, making Blair's defense virtually impenetrable. Because of Blair's dominance over Blake, they were able to give playing time to more players than usual during the match. "We got some benchers in today," said senior Rebecca Cho.

The first game began with an ace from Hsiung, which put Blair in the lead. Later on in the game, Wong served six consecutive points, putting even more space between the Blazers and the Bengals. Blake would never even up the score, and the Blazers won the game 25-15 after junior Yicong Liu came up with a dig which was picked up by Hsiung and setted to senior spiker Simone Viger, who slammed the ball, untouched, into the back of Blake's court.

In the second game, the score remained consistently very close, neither team ever more than five points ahead. However, in the end Blair was able to put together three straight points, which would allow them to take the game 25-21. In the third and final game, Blake and Blair remained close until Hsiung served out a four-point rally, giving the Blazers an 18-10 lead. Blair continued to increase their lead, and won the game 25-14 after Liu, Hsiung, and sophomore Tiffany Yee put together a stellar play that Blake could not return.