NPA volleyball bounces back with sweep of williams
The Northland Prep Academy girls’ volleyball team defeated the Williams Vikings, 25-10, 25-13, 25-11 in their home match on Tuesday night.
NPA now sit at 5-1 and are ranked No.8 overall. They are no longer undefeated in the 2A North region after losing to undefeated, St. Johns (6-0).
Williams sit at No. 4 and are 4-2 in the 1A Central region and went into match with a three-loss streak.
The Spartans demonstrated strong attacking and high energy, while remaining focused, throughout the match. The team earned most of their points with not only their front row hitters but also using back row attacks and tips from their setter.
Head Coach Corie Murphy called out juniors, Zillah Wildblood-Crawford and Piper McGourin for their strong performance. Wildblood-Crawford finished the game with 24 kills and McGourin finished with six.
“Zillah did a really great job and Piper’s been working on that faster tempo ball,” said Murphy. “It was good to see her run that a couple times tonight.
Aside from the successful aggressive attacks, junior Karlie Zeglin played a strong match in the back row.
Late in the second set, the ball got tipped short in front of the ten-foot line, but Zeglin dove popping the ball up with one arm high enough for setter, Makenna Murphy, to the push the ball deep corner, winning the point.
The Spartans kept it close with the Knights at the beginning of each set and would eventually pull away. However, in each set, they lost match point and had to win it back. Zeglin and McGourin reflected on the team’s high performance. They both agreed that consistency is something that needs to be focused on.
“We got a good pass and then we put it away. We played our game tonight,” said Zeglin. “I think we just need to be more consistent on everything: serving, passing, hits and setting. That will help us in the tournament when we play stronger teams.”
“We were communicating well and had good energy. However, sometimes we are an inconsistent team. We need to focus on putting the ball away and not allowing the opposing team to go on a run,” said McGourin.
Murphy said there are still some things that the team needs to focus on and continue to practice before heading to the 2A Conference tournament at the end of the season. More aggressive serves and less serving errors are at the top of that list.
The Spartans have two more in-season games left, with their next match being on the road Oct. 23 at 6 PM against Greyhills Academy.