Last Friday, the GDS varsity volleyball team faced off against School Without Walls for their annual Dig Pink game, which is meant to raise awareness for breast cancer. During the day, players sported shirts with pink ribbons—the symbol for breast cancer awareness—on them and sold homemade treats at a bake sale. GDS partners with and donates its proceeds to the Side-Out Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps volleyball teams around the country create “Dig Pink” games in order to raise support for breast cancer research and awareness.
This was the Hoppers’ sixth Independent School League (ISL) conference game, and GDS came into the match hoping to continue their undefeated conference streak. GDS has won every conference match and set this season.
The Hoppers came out of the gate fast, winning four points in a row. GDS continued to attack the Penguins’ defense in the first set with powerful hits by juniors Zora Dimbo and Alexa Telly.
An ace by freshman Raquel Telly brought GDS’ lead to 14–5, and a spike by senior Fiona McDermott added to the momentum. The Penguins were unable to claw their way back, and a powerful spike by Dimbo ended the first set with a final score of 25–13 in GDS’ favor.
After starting the second set with three straight points, the GDS offense began to sputter.
“I think we could have played better there,” Dimbo said. “There were a lot of miscommunication errors.”
Senior Ella Higday echoed Dimbo’s statement. “We had little moments of poor communication and were a little off, ” she said.
GDS quickly recovered, though, and an ace by Higday and excellent defense by junior Charlie Haft put the Hoppers back in the lead, 8–6.
After that, the Hoppers never looked back.
GDS ramped up the offensive pressure, winning six points in a row and leaving the Penguin defense scrambling. The set ended 25-12 with an ace from sophomore Farrah Maragh.
GDS came out strong in the third set, with powerful hits by sophomore Julia Heinzelmann, junior Arielle Stopak and senior Gigi Wigglesworth giving GDS a 7–1 lead early on. Stopak is a reporter for the Bit.
GDS went on to win 13 points in a row, and Haft and Alexa Telly hit a combined 17 serves.
“We really won the serve and pass phase of the game today,” head coach Brandon Wiest said. “We played our best volleyball at the end of the match.”
A strong block and hit by Fergusson put the Hoppers up 24–7, and a kill by Wigglesworth put the nail in the coffin—GDS had won the match in straight sets.
The Hoppers’ next game is senior night against Stone Ridge, which is on Oct. 20 at home.