WA Girls’ Volleyball won their game against Chelmsford with a final score of 3-2 on Tuesday, October 15, increasing their season record to 8-5.
The first set started off with Chelmsford gaining an early lead, but the Ghosts were able to hold their own and crawl back into the game. Senior Sophie Krauss brought the intensity with her powerful hits from the outside hitting position, while junior Norah Schweitzer blocked almost every hit Chelmsford sent over.
After much back and forth throughout the entire first set, it wasn’t clear who would come out on top and secure the first set win.
Junior Kaitlyn Pepin blocked a hard hit from Chelmsford sending it straight to the floor, followed by two serves she aced earning WA three more points, which helped bring them closer to Chelmsford’s lead of 21-20. Chelmsford called timeout after WA went on a 4 point streak with the intention to break their lead.
“I believe that we rallied as a team and we are building each other’s confidence. We had moments where there were great passes, serves, and hits,” Pepin said.
WA’s setter, junior Lia Clancy changed up the pattern of the bump, set, hit and pushed the ball over the net, which Chelmsford was not expecting. The ball went right in the open space increasing the score to 24-21. Chelmsford pushed hard and tied the game 24-24, but WA fought hard and won the first set 26-24.
At the start of the second set, WA gained an early lead of 4-0, but Chelmsford’s setter fought back by serving 5 aces in a row, making the score 5-4.
The second set had many great plays by Krauss, Pepin, and Clancy but Chelmsford took the lead, causing WA to call a timeout as the score reached 21-13. WA continued to fight hard to stay in the game, but Chelmsford pushed harder and won the second set 25-20.
Starting off the third set really strong, Krauss served three aces in a row followed by two powerful hits from Schweitzer and Pepin, making the score 6-1.
Both teams fought hard to take control of the third set, but WA continued with their lead of 13-4. After a lot more back and forth, Chelmsford started to catch up, pushing the score 19-16, lagging only three points behind.
Chelmsford came back to tie the score 24-24, and continued with their momentum winning the third set 26-24.
Throughout the fourth set, both teams remained almost equal but WA kept the lead with help from Pepin and sophomore middle hitter Isla Hummer. The two worked together to slam down every ball that came their way.
WA created an even larger lead with Clancy pushing the ball over Chelmsford’s middle hitter.
Chelmsford called another timeout as WA continued with their streak. Although Chelmsford gained a few points, WA won the fourth set 25-19, pushing the game to a fifth set as both teams had won two sets each.
With the fifth set only going to 15 points, both teams had to put all their energy into each play with the intention to win both the final set, and the game as a whole.
Pepin and Krauss fought with large amounts of energy to make sure WA stayed in the game. Pepin made a few strong blocks, pushing WA to gain back the lead 11-8. Chelmsford laid down some good hits, but it was not nearly enough to to receive major hits from Krauss and junior Kaelyn D’Eon.
Chelmsford’s loss of control of the ball pushed WA’s lead up 14-13. In a long rally with great hits and sets from both teams, Westford watched as Chelmsford hit the last ball out of bounds, securing the win for WA.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team, we came into tonight’s game ready to fight for the win, and that’s exactly what the girls did,” Krauss said.
