All GDS needed was one point to secure the game against Maret. Junior Drew McMillian served the ball, and Maret’s libero quickly returned it. The teams rallied before Maret hit the ball towards the middle, where junior Ava Ahaghotu and senior Arielle Stopak leaped up and blocked the ball, cementing the win.
On Thursday, Sept. 17, the women’s varsity volleyball team beat Maret School in straight sets. The win comes off the heels of a 3–1 victory against Flint Hill School on Sept. 15.
The game started strong for the Hoppers. McMillian served three straight aces, and GDS quickly jumped out to a six-point lead. Soon after, impressive coordination between sophomore Raquel Telly and junior libero Jaylin Park led to a strong kill from senior Alexa Telly.
“We have had really strong performances and relied a lot on our left side outside hitters in the earlier games this year,” head coach Brandon Wiest said.
After a short Maret run, GDS turned on the jets and scored six points. Senior Charlie Haft served an ace to close out the set.
“Something we pride ourselves on is that we serve really aggressively at other teams,” Wiest said. “We served really, really well today.”
The second set began with a 3–0 Maret run, but after two consecutive blocks from sophomore Gigi Conley, GDS soon matched the score at 3–3. The two teams continued to trade points until the Hoppers pulled ahead by five.
Stopak, a middle blocker, made a series of strong blocks during the second set. “We spent a lot of time this week really working to involve our middles [a team’s blockers],” Wiest said. “We were really excited to see our middles and our right side lead us today.”
Another strong block and an ace from Stopak led GDS to a 17–7 advantage, and junior Harper Lunde served three straight aces to end the second set 25–9 in GDS’ favor.
The third set started with a 3–0 GDS lead. Maret bounced back with two points, but GDS responded with a 8–0 run. After several rallies, a block and a hit from junior Della Blum gave GDS a 14–6 lead.
The rest of the set was more of the same. The younger Telly killed the ball off a set from sophomore Evelyn McDermott, and a joint block from Ahaghotu and Stopak ended the last set—and the game—at 25–14.
“I think our mindset is just, no matter how good or bad the other team is, just giving our best effort and making sure that every point matters,” Park said after the win.
The team’s next game is at home against Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 5:45 p.m.