Last Saturday, Girls’ Varsity Volleyball headed to Deerfield looking to end the season with a win. Losing the first two sets, the team fought hard, winning the next two. Unfortunately, luck was on Deerfield’s side in the fifth set and Choate lost the set 13-15.
Choate started off strong in the first set, dominating the first ten points. Co-captain Kiki Kim ’20 went on a six-point serving run as Deerfield struggled to defend and attack. However, Deerfield took control of the game through a serving run, and Choate fell short in the first set, by a score of 25-18.
In the second set, Choate’s back row had trouble receiving Deefield’s serves, allowing Deerfield to gain an early lead. Following a Choate time-out, the team fixed its mistakes, largely through the play of Lily Ding ’20 and Morgann Skoda ’22, which gave Choate’s setters plenty of options on the offense. The score soon reached a stressful 24-24, with Deerfield ultimately winning 26-24 with tips from the middle.
Choate began the third and fourth sets with rigor and persistence, intent on winning the remaining sets. Even under the immense pressure, passing and serving was consistent, with serving runs from freshmen Val Guadian ’23 and Fay Pahuja ’23. Outside hitter Maddy Estenson ’21 had multiple kills, including one that went through a Deerfield player’s hands. Choate was able to finish both sets with a score of 25-23. Middle hitter Ella Sklar ’22 said, “The team played with such determination that we would not let a single ball drop. We all knew that we had absolutely nothing to lose.”
The first seven points of the fifth set were dominated by Choate, with kills from right-side hitters Renee Jiang ’22 and Sasha Moran ’22. As the teams switched courts, however, Deerfield’s offense fought back. With the score tied at 13-13, the ball was on Deerfield’s side. Choate passed and swung perfectly but fell short after a block and tip from Deerfield. On the game point, Deerfield scored one last time to win the final set 15-13.
“This was the best game we played all season,” said co-captain Ally Chadha ’20. “Although we started off slow in the first two sets, we fought back so hard in the next three. The final two points of the fifth set really could have gone either way.”
