Volleyball girls win big on Senior Recognition Night
Dan McClelland
by Dan Brown, Athletic Director
The Tupper Lake Varsity Volleyball team ended its regular season with a victory last Wednesday against Brushton-Moira. The visiting Panthers had fallen victim to the Lady Lumberjacks earlier in the season and the ‘Jacks were looking for a repeat victory.
In addition to being the final game of the regular season, the Lady Jacks were also facing off in their Senior Recognition game. With a family packed gym, and a student section dressed in their Hawaiian themed garb for Luau Night, the Sawmill was loud from the start. The Lady Jacks jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead before a couple of rotation errors slowed the match down. Nonetheless, the Tupper Lake Student-Section kept their “D-Fence” and “T-U-P-P-E-R” chants going to rally the girls. Despite a slow moving first set, the girls responded to and recovered from the loss in momentum. Ultimately, the girls went on to win a close first set 25-22.
In the second set, the ‘Jacks again came out strong and quickly went up 4-1 on the Panthers. However, as the set progressed, the Lady Jacks stumbled as the Panthers looked to stage a comeback. The ‘Jacks’ rotation again caused the floor confusion, but the girls kept their heads high. Midway through the set, the score came within two, but from there, the Panthers rallied to take the second set 25-21.
As the third set began, strong play from Seniors Libero, Hailey Conlon and Senior Outside Hitter Mya Gerstenberger paid off. The ‘Jacks were now settling in and taking command of the match. Gerstenberger closed out the set with strong serves as the boys and girls posing as Hawaiians cheered her on. With every serve, the smiles in the gym got bigger before the Lady Jacks cut down the Panthers to end set three 25-17 .
In the fourth and final set, the Lady Jacks played with more confidence as Sophomore and Right-Side Hitter Kendall Kenniston led the charge with a strong service game and several strategic taps from the front row. In all, the Lady Lumberjacks closed out Wednesday by winning the fourth set 25-17 to setup Saturday’s home playoff game versus none other than the Panthers of Brushton-Moira.
The winner of Saturday’s playoff game faced off last night (Tuesday, November 1) versus number one seed, Chateaugay.