An Elizabeth Seton High School player rocketed the ball across the net. As the ball sailed towards the ground on GDS’ side, the point looked all but sealed. But there came junior Ava Ahaghotu, who raced towards the ball and made an impressive one-handed bump to keep the point alive. That sort of hustle was everywhere in GDS’ Sept. 8 matchup against Seton.
In its first game of the season, the women’s varsity volleyball team beat Seton in straight sets on Tuesday. (Seton is located in Bladensburg, Maryland.) The team is coming off a fourth straight District of Columbia State Athletic Association (DCSAA) championship.
“What we were most excited about was to see so many people contributing,” head coach Brandon Wiest said of the win. “We have a different group this year than we did last year, so I was thrilled we hit the ground running.” The team graduated four seniors last season and added six new players.
The first set opened with a long rally, but Seton ultimately won the first point with a powerful hit into the right corner. GDS won the next point and then quickly jumped out to a 4–1 lead after senior Charlie Haft served three straight aces.
GDS then raced out to an 18–4 lead after junior Jaylin Park served four straight aces and sophomore Raquel Telly hit numerous kills.
The rallies became longer and more competitive later in the set, but GDS still came out on top in a dominant 25–10 win.
GDS opened the second set with a 7–0 run. Powerful serves were once again key to their offense, and with strong defensive plays by Ahaghotu and junior Farrah Maragh, the Hoppers grew their lead to 16.
“We did a really good job of communicating, staying organized and making sure we knew who was taking what ball,” senior Alexa Telly said. “We were very scrappy. We were on the floor.”
After a timeout, Seton won the next three points, making the score 22–9. But senior Zora Dimbo halted Seton’s run by spiking a ball that bounced off an opposing player and soared out of bounds. GDS finished the set up 25–11.
The third set started differently than the previous two: Instead of GDS jumping out to an early lead, the game ended up tied at 8–8.
Wiest wasn’t surprised when the third set became more competitive. “We were waiting for that to happen,” Wiest said. “Elizabeth Seton is always a really good program. We were talking in our huddle all night about how we didn’t want to get overconfident. We know they have good enough players with good enough experience that they can give us a fight.”
But with a resounding kill by the older Telly, GDS went on a 8–1 run that was fueled by more standout hits from the Telly sisters and strong defense from sophomore Giselle Conley. After an ace from junior Drew McMillan, the game was sealed; as they often do, GDS had won in straight sets.
The younger Telly hit ten spikes in Tuesday’s matchup. None of them were returned. “It’s a crazy, crazy thing,” Wiest said of Telly’s performance.
Wiest said he was happy not only with the win but how the team achieved it.
“We try not to attach the results of games to our goals,” Wiest said. “We are looking to play the way you saw tonight, as a cohesive team that doesn’t take our foot off the gas no matter how far up or down.”
Wiest said the team is also adjusting to a new, unfamiliar formation that is meant to leverage the team’s strong serving capabilities. “I have a couple rotations where we don’t have a setter on the court, which is very atypical,” Wiest said. “We are working through some funky rotations.”
GDS will play Flint Hill School at home on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 5:45 p.m.