Volleyball Girls suffer an opening defeat
IE Volleyball Girls were defeated 0-3 against Segovolley Veteranos this Sunday at the Enrique Serichol Gym on the first game of the season.
The IE Volleyball Girls team played against one of the top 3 teams in last year’s Campeonato Municipal. The final scores were of 21-25 on the first rounds, 13-25 on the second and 24-26 on the final one. Despite the loss, the girls remain optimistic about the season.
“It was the first game of the entire season and it was a really good, because we were playing with new players who we didn’t have last year, and I think they integrated pretty well,” said Andrea Trevisan, captain of the team.
The first set began with coach Sara Álvarez appointing 6 players and 2 substitutes. The formation was composed by the team’s top scorer Carlota Guedes, Farida Naggar, Lamees Ahmad and Arielle Combrick with Alessia Ricchiuti and Andrea Trevisan as setters. The two substitutes were Sofia Kurtis and Nana Oppenheimer.
Despite an early lead with a few mistakes, the Girls struggled to widen the gap as Veteranos reversed the number of points in the mid-game through a sequence of accurate spikes and blocks that allowed Veteranos to finish the set with more points.
The second set began with Oppenheimer and Kurtis replacing Combrinck and Ahmad. The early game opened with several roll-overs gaining an early lead for the Veteranos, who increased the gap by the middle-game. The Girls attempted to salvage some points with saves by Naggar, Oppenheimer and Kurtis, but were unable to save the set, finishing with a score of 13 for IE Volleyball Girls team and 25 for Veteranos.
The third set opened with an early lead of 4 points from the Veteranos against the first set’s starting formation. But, Guedes could lessen the gap through a succession of successful serves.
With both teams appearing tired, the game gained unpredictability. The middle-game followed a close battle with the Girls coming on top passing into the end-game with a lead of 20 to 19. The Girls pushed against the Veteranos, who salvaged points up to 24-24. With increasing pressure, the Girls fought for every ball, but the experienced Veteranos eventually closed the game with a victory.
“I feel proud of the girls, because they were fighting until the end and they showed Veteranos how well can they play,” explained coach Sara Alvarez, “For following games, I expect that the Girls will be more organized. The thing is that they have to get accustomed to each other, especially with sets and spikes.”
“I think it was our best game, but we are still a little bit nervous and new as a team. For the next game, I think we will know each other better, and it will be easier and more organized,” stated the hitter and the Girls’ top scorer Carlota Guedes, who accumulated a total of 13 points, consisting of 3 aces and 10 spikes.
This week on Jan. 21, IE Volleyball Girls will be facing Molten, a newly registered team. Then, the Volleyball Boys will play against Segovolley Veteranos. Both matches at the Enrique Serichol Gym.
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