Garfield vs Holy Names Recap
Autumn Henson
The Garfield Volleyball team started their season off strong last night with a resounding 3-1 victory against Holy Names Academy. With a starting line-up of freshman Nicole Kwatinetz, junior Ruby Kaill, and seniors Tiana Tran, Stella Sterk, Lucia Rejzek, Jane Fix, and libero Phoebe Frank, the team pushed into the lead early in the game. In the first set, the Bulldogs came out with a lead of 8-1 over HNA, with the gap slowly closing as the opposition caught up, and ending the set at 25-21 in favor of GHS.
A difficult set of serves from Kwatinetz, Frank, and Rejzek throughout the four sets caused Holy Names to make countless out-of-system plays that could not produce strong attacks. The dynamic defense of Frank and Sterk made quick work of the weaker plays, passing high balls to setter Rejzek, who skillfully lined up varied attacks from the Bulldog hitters that broke through the high blocks of HNA.
In the second set, Holy Names was called out of rotation and received their second yellow card for delay of game, causing a 20 minute pause in play. The Bulldogs moved past this hiccup quickly, finishing with a 25-14 win. A nail-biter third set ended at 28-30 for Holy Names, with both sides missing crucial serves which ultimately led to the deuce. As both sides' energy waned, Fix brought the energy back up with down-the-line and straight shots, which threw HNA’s passers off-balance in time for Kwatinetz to come back with several powerful swings of her own. The game ended in a definitive and satisfying first victory for the Bulldogs against Holy Names, who they had not beat in several years.
A difficult set of serves from Kwatinetz, Frank, and Rejzek throughout the four sets caused Holy Names to make countless out-of-system plays that could not produce strong attacks. The dynamic defense of Frank and Sterk made quick work of the weaker plays, passing high balls to setter Rejzek, who skillfully lined up varied attacks from the Bulldog hitters that broke through the high blocks of HNA.
In the second set, Holy Names was called out of rotation and received their second yellow card for delay of game, causing a 20 minute pause in play. The Bulldogs moved past this hiccup quickly, finishing with a 25-14 win. A nail-biter third set ended at 28-30 for Holy Names, with both sides missing crucial serves which ultimately led to the deuce. As both sides' energy waned, Fix brought the energy back up with down-the-line and straight shots, which threw HNA’s passers off-balance in time for Kwatinetz to come back with several powerful swings of her own. The game ended in a definitive and satisfying first victory for the Bulldogs against Holy Names, who they had not beat in several years.