Blair girls’ volleyball dominate Rockville Rams in an exciting 3-0 game

On Wednesday, Sept. 13 the Blair girls’ varsity volleyball team (3-0) defeated the Rockville Rams (0-4) in a 3-0 game. The Blazers have maintained an undefeated winning streak since pre-season and hope to continue their success even with tougher competition to come. 

The Rams started off the set with service and immediately lost the point due to a hit that fell off bounds. Unfortunately for Blair too, early game mistakes occurred when most of their hits did not find their place in the court. 

The game finally started to pick itself up once junior outside hitter Nicole Neal drilled an impressive line shot kill that caught the Rams’ defensive off guard. The Blazers’ momentum continued to be shaky with more out-of-system plays from Blair’s defense. Thanks to junior setter Manooyee Fedhaa, the team recovered multiple shanks and plays for Blair’s defense. 

Blair’s offensive strategy was focused on stalling their opponents with slower offensive attacks. Senior co-captain right-side hitter Aria Shimanek hit slowly into the Rams’ blocks, which got a touchout and created more of a score advantage for the Blazers. 

The first set showcased Blair’s middle’s offensive. Senior co-captain middle blocker Chrissie Oppong swung powerfully through open gaps in between the Rams’ blocks, tallying up more middle attacks. The set ended with a straight kill on Rockville’s defense from Neal yet again at 25-15. 

The second set started great for the Blazers, with junior outside hitter Katherine Tang getting multiple back row hits, completely stalling the Rams’ back row players as difficult spots were targeted. 

The Blazers remained extremely consistent with their serves, hits, and back row defense. Rockville’s gameplay was disrupted when their team began to make more technical errors, allowing Blair to lead the Rams 13-6 very early onto the set. Oppong continued to hit tricky shots from the middle position as the Rams tried to regain their previous momentum. 

Senior libero Karen Cao and Fedhaa serviced aces through the seams of the Rams’ defense and worked well together to get more out-of-system plays in motion. After a final fast hit by Tang, the Blazers won the second set at 25-11. 

The start of set three proved to be a pivotal moment for the Rockville Rams as they cleared up their errors and began to take advantage of the tired Blazers. The Rams were able to maintain an impressive 0-6 lead over Blair, resulting in a timeout call from Blair’s head coach Deanna Earle. 

Coming out of the timeout, Neal scored a powerful corner shot against the Rams, breaking the tension, and continued catching up for the Blazers with more effective hits. 

Even though the Blazers were still behind the Rams, it was obvious that they were not giving up anytime soon. Tang stayed in service rotation for multiple turns as the Rams had a difficult time siding out. With two aces from Tang and an impressive hit from junior right side Hannah Sax, the Blazers made an amazing comeback after a slow start for the third set. 

Rockville changed up their playing style for their offensive players, but proved to be no challenge for Cao who dived all throughout the court, picking up their short hits over the net. A great advantage for the Blazers, the Rams began to make more touch-out errors when trying to dig Blair’s hits.

Freshman outside hitter Kahmyah Yirenkyi officially ended the set with a complete shutout block against Rockville’s offensive, hyping up the crowd as the Blazers managed to finish the game in a quick three sets. 

After the game, Coach Earle expressed that she was very satisfied with how well the Blazers performed during the game. However, she will always expect them to play at their fullest potential, “The biggest thing varsity needs to work on is playing at the Blair level regardless of who our opponent is…we need to make sure we play the same regardless of who is on the other side of the net.”

The Blazers will face the Einstein Titans away this Monday, Sept. 19, at 6:30 p.m.