GDS only needed one more point to seal the win. Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School served the ball, and after a short rally, senior Charlie Haft set the ball to senior Alexa Telly, who spiked it to center court, cementing the win for GDS.
On Tuesday, Sept. 29, in the team’s fourth annual USA-themed “Pack the House” night, the women’s varsity volleyball team beat Visitation in straight sets, winning 25–17, 26–24 and 25–23, respectively.
Before the game, the team celebrated Telly, who reached 500 career kills in the team’s Sept. 26 tournament game in Florida against Jupiter Community High School. Telly is the third GDS athlete to hit the milestone, following Jada Aksu ’25 and Zoe Ryu ’25.
“My teammates helped me through it, and it feels good,” Telly said.
The game against Visitation started with an ace from senior Charlie Haft, but Visitation quickly took a 6–2 lead with some quick tips over the net.
“We approached every point of the match as if it was 0–0,” head coach Brandon Wiest said. “It doesn’t matter if the other team had 24, and we had 22; in our mind it was 0–0.”
The team took that mindset to heart, and GDS took an 8–7 lead. GDS stayed slightly ahead for the rest of the set, and sophomore Raquel Telly spiked the ball to win the set for the Hoppers.
About 30 students arrived at the game between the first and second sets, forming an energetic student section in the first few rows of the bleachers.
The two teams traded points to start the second set. GDS pulled ahead by three, but Visitation quickly came back, winning four consecutive points and making the score 6–5. GDS answered with two consecutive aces from the elder Telly.
The teams stayed within two points for the rest of the set, but Visitation finally took set point, 24–22. The student section stood up in anticipation. After a kill from the elder Telly gave GDS another point, the Hoppers called a timeout.
After the timeout, senior Zora Dimbo served, and the Hoppers won the point with yet another kill from the elder Telly, tying the set at 24. GDS ran the same play, with a serve from Dimbo and a kill from Telly. With GDS leading 25–24, the spectators were loud, and when Dimbo closed out the set with an ace, they grew even louder.
The crowd stayed lively between the sets. Volleyball players threw candy into the crowd to celebrate the fans who showed up for the “Pack the House” night.
The two teams stayed within three points of each other throughout the third set. Visitation was up 20–17 when GDS closed the gap, bringing the score to 20–19. After trading points, the elder Telly made yet another kill, giving GDS a two-point lead and game point. Visitation blocked an attempted tip, bringing the score to 24–23. Everybody was on their feet.
After another short rally, the elder Telly fittingly won the game with a final kill to center court, cementing the win for the Hoppers.
So far, GDS has lost none of its three league matches. The team is hoping to continue that trend on Oct. 8, when they’ll play at Episcopal High School at 5:45 p.m.