Varsity girls' volleyball triumphs over Titans

NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM, Sept. 8 –

The girls' varsity volleyball team showed no mercy in their first home game, defeating the Einstein Titans in straight sets and bringing their record to an even 1-1. The Lady Blazers took control by capitalizing on Einstein's errors in the first two sets, taking them by dominant scores of 25-11 and 25-6. Einstein feigned a comeback in the third set before Blair took the game by a closer margin, 25-18.

Despite the solid performance, head coach Chris Liang seeks improvements for his team as they focus on the rest of the season. "There are still a few things that need to be worked on," Liang said. "They played good, but we need fewer errors next time."

After struggling early in the first set, the Blazers took advantage of out-of-bounds hits from Einstein and intimidating hits from junior Katie Hague to catch the Titans off guard and capture the lead at 7-5.
Blair increased the gap by delivering speedy serves and spikes as the Titans played sloppily. Successful aces from junior co-captain Sibyl Brown furthered Blair's lead, bringing the score to 16-8. As Einstein suffered from careless errors and dropped balls, Blair exhibited tight teamwork to jump ahead in the set by a routing 22-10 margin. After a slew of strong hits from the Blazers and weak settings from Einstein, the set ended, 25-11.

The Lady Blazers kept the momentum flowing into the second set, quickly garnering a 4-1 lead from solid serves and an ace from junior co-captain Elaine Brice. Einstein became prone to out-of-bounds serves and poor passes and plays, extending Blair's lead even further. Athletic blocks from senior captain Caitlin Ludington and miscommunications from the struggling Titans found Blair leading 14-4. Hague, serving swift aces, helped end the set by a dominating 25-6 score.

Early on in the third set Einstein began to find some cohesion, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Both teams were plagued with errors before Blair finally seized control, 6-4. Effective setting from Blair, combined with double aces from Ludington, increased Blair's advantage to five. Then, both sides began faltering, as Blazers were seen tumbling and clashing over balls, while Einstein was overwhelmed by net faults, leaving the score at 14-8.

Soon after, Einstein began gaining momentum and picking up some points as Blair succumbed to out-of-bounds serves and balls into the net. Still, the Titans could not overtake Blazers who demonstrated speedy serves. The score reached 19-11, with Blair in the lead, due to bounced balls in Titans territory. After a couple of rigorous rallies, Einstein picked up the pace again, bringing the score to 21-16, when Blair began delivering dropped balls. Subsequent slip-ups from Einstein shortened their strides, as Blair steered ahead with superb saves from Hague. Ludington ended the game, putting the score at 25-18 with an acute ace.

Even with the win, the Lady Blazers see room for improvement. "I thought we played well but we could've picked up the intensity," said Brown.

"This game has been a learning experience; we need to learn how to play at the same level every time," said Sheridan.

The girls varsity volleyball team plays its next home game on Tuesday, Sept. 16 against Watkins Mill at 6:30 p.m.