On Thursday night, Manual girls’ varsity volleyball team defeated the LKY Saints in 3 sets on senior night.
Before the start of the game, there was a ceremony for the five Manual seniors. Riley Osbourne (#4, 12), Abby Gentner (#22, 12), Aubrey Montgomery (#29, 12), Kennedy Dawson (#1, 12) and Brooke Ciresi (#14, 12) were celebrated with their families by head coach Richard Weaver, several assistant coaches, Manual’s Principal, Dr. Micheal Newman, and Athletic Director David Zuberer.
“They’ve [seniors] done more than just grow as people, they’ve grown this program, they’ve grown this staff to be better people. They will never understand truly how special they are,” head coach Richard Weaver said.
First Set
The game started out with a Manual serve by Osbourne. The ball went back and forth over the net a few times before Manual’s Ciresi had her first kill of the game earning the Lady Crimsons their first point.
LKY’s Maggie Gilmore (#2, 10) earned two points, but the Saints had several attacking errors when volleying back and forth. These errors and an ace by Manual’s Osbourne allowed the Lady Crimsons to lead, 5-2.
Manual’s Piper Fulton (#17, 10) had a block which led to an attack error and a point for the LKY Saints.
Manual then had several good points in a row. A kill by Ciresi, an ace by Gentner and an attack error by the Saints brought the score to 16-6, the Lady Crimsons still in the lead.
Manual then had a kill by Nadia Bishop (#7, 11) and a dig by the defense. The lead was still in Manual’s favor, 22-6.
Right at the end of the set, Manual’s Montgomery had a kill and the Crimsons won the first set 25-6.
Second Set
The second set started with a serve by LKY’s Zoe Watkins (#23, 12) who made two points in a row on the Lady Crimson’s defense.
After a few volleys, the Saints had an attack error and handed over another point to the Crimsons. The score was now 7-5, Manual.
The Saints had a blocking error on a hit by Avery Easley (#2, 11), which resulted in another point for the Lady Crimsons, making the score 13-9.
A serve from Dawson, as well as a successful block led to the Lady Crimsons gaining an even greater lead, 16-11.
With another kill from Ciresi and multiple errors by the Saints, Manual maintained their lead, 21-13.
The set ended with a kill by Osbourne with a score of 25-14.
Set Three
The first point of the set came from an ace by Osbourne. However, the Lady Crimsons then had an attacking error so it was tied 1-1.
After multiple attacking errors by the Saints and a block by Fulton and Gentner and kills by other Lady Crimsons, the score was 10-2.
After many kills by Gentner and errors by the Saints, the score became 20-4.
Suzetta Fuller (#9, 10) had multiple aces, leading to the Lady Crimsons gaining a 23-4 lead.
The game ended with a kill by Manual with a final score of 25-8.
“It’s just really memorable to go out there and play our game like we usually do and just make new memories as a team,” Gentner said, about the senior night win.
The Lady Crimsons’ next game is Wed. Oct., 16th at Sacred Heart Academy at 7:00 p.m. against the Valkyries.
