The team looked great in warm-ups but when the ball went up for real; the SK girls looked ready to play. They were loose, they were having fun, and they gave it their all as they pulled out a win in the second set by a final score of 25-20. Pandemonium broke out as the girls jumped, hugged and went crazy in celebration. The Neers dropped the first and third set but it really didn’t matter. They competed and gave the Pandas nothing. I can't remember watching sports at any level or type where I have ever seen a team that lost any happier. The excitement of the girls and the players defined what high school sports should be about. Competing as hard as you can, sharing time outside of the classroom with your friends in a positive outlet and most importantly, learning to rise to a challenge. Congrats to each player and to Coach Atwood. You were all awesome tonight as you all showed some real passion.
At the end of the night, the coolest thing is the team that was the happiest was the team that lost. I’m certainly not saying it is more fun to lose but the SK girls hit their challenge head-on and met it and they were proud of themselves. They will remember this night for a long time and safe to say will remember this night over a lot of your high school career wins. (Lots of parents, relatives and friends in the stands who were proud of you as well.)
So many special things that stood out tonight and after the match was over, nobody really wanted to leave the Joe. Besides the second set win, it was neat to see the entire team contribute and celebrate. It was awesome to see seniors Kaitlin Murray and Sophie Dunn hugging each other after the match. Kaitlin had tears in her eyes she was so happy and Dunner had her patented ear to ear grin. Kelsey Schmiade; no surprise to anyone, was just laughing-out loud at times, even when the ball came at her at about 110 mph, Megan Dischar and Kelsey Holland who Coach Atwood called on and they delivered awesome passes without looking a bit nervous, Ellie Smith who looked like she wanted to serve because she knew NDA was struggling to get a pass off her serve, Amarah Nicholson, Rachael Figgins and Haley Robinson who went to the net and played strong blocking some absolute rockets, Biz and Carson who stuck their nose in to some blistering kills for digs and Emily Popham who had the clipboard on the bench but had her hands clasped together in hope that the 25th point in the second set was going to show up. Finally, Coach Atwood hit the right buttons and pushed and challenged her players to help them reach their goal. Oh, I almost forgot the frosh and JV in the stands who were cheering away.
Neer V’ballers; you just showed yourselves what you are
capable of; there’s a spot on the wall with your names on it. Dream, focus and go get it.
Yes, that says SK 16 and NDA 6- prompting an NDA TO; pinch me.
Can't really say anything else about these.
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