Varsity girls volleyball defeats Lynbrook 3-1 at last home game
Junior Victoria Lee blocks a spike
After the girls volleyball Senior Night on Oct. 30, parents of athletes from Lynbrook High School looked quizzically at their daughters' sobbing opponents. Crying in sports isn't unheard of, but seemed so out of place when the MVHS girls had actually triumphed over Lynbrook with a solid score of 3-1. But sometimes it isn't about winning or losing. Emotions ran haywire by the end of the night as several MVHS senior players came to terms with the fact that they would never again play a game of volleyball for the Matadors at home. And many of them were angry that they had few opportunities to play that day.
"Only one senior got to play in the last two games today, on our senior night," senior Jamie Fung said, referring to senior Mabel Yeung.
But the volleyball coach, Colin Anderson, had reason for playing his younger athletes. "I do typically have more seniors on their senior night," Anderson said. "But this is still a league game, and I had to choose the athletes that would bring the greatest chance of winning."
Fung entered the game as the first senior in play. With solid spikes from junior Victoria Lee, MVHS pulled the score up to 4-0 before Lynbrook had the chance to score a single point. The first game was characteristic of strong defense by Victoria, Fung, and Yeung. Powerful serves by senior Ally Tam and another spike from Victoria brought MVHS to the first victory ending with a tense, close score of 25-23.
The second game began with MVHS dragging behind Lynbrook. Combined with sturdy defense by sophomores Alex Chiu and Jennifer Wang, junior Audrey Lee tied the score 7-7 and MVHS continued to spike for 12 additional points in the duration of the game, bringing the team to a steady five point lead of 19-14. A set by senior Ann Wang followed by an out-of-bounds serve from the Vikings brought MVHS to the second game point of the match. Chiu spiked the winning point.
By the start of the third game, fans in the bleachers were becoming restless. Some of them chanted, "Cheaters, cheaters, kick them out!" in reference to several players on Lynbrook's team who served and then continued to spike winning points—prohibited by the rules of the game. However, the referee did not act on these objections.
Senior Matisse Yoshihara entered the game and made several dives for low passes, despite multiple injuries to ligaments in both hands. While junior Nicole Dao was serving, MVHS pulled the score up to 22-22, having scored seven points in a row—the last one a result of a forceful spike by Chiu.
Senior Matisse Yoshihara entered the game and made several dives for low passes, despite multiple injuries to ligaments in both hands. While junior Nicole Dao was serving, MVHS pulled the score up to 22-22, having scored seven points in a row—the last one a result of a forceful spike by Chiu.
Later, Audrey's strategic diagonal spikes drove the score forward to a tie 24-24—game point for Lynbrook but a match point for the Matadors, who needed only one additional game to fulfill the best out of five games to win. However, MVHS lost the point and game to the opponent after hitting the ball out of bounds.
Lynbrook maintained a lead through the third game, with a score of 2-4 until a point was recalled in favor of the Matadors because the server from Lynbrook had scored the winning point as well. The Matadors rejuvenated their energy with a team cheer of "Balls up!" just as sophomore Ashley Yu spiked a winning point for the first MVHS lead of the game (9-8).
For a few minutes, the Lynbrook team seemed to get sloppy—two out-of-bounds serves and a double hit by the same player—resulting in an MVHS lead of 18-14 before a time-out was called. Lynbrook fixed its game, however, playing aggressively and skillfully—spiking a strategically low ball that had already hit the ground by the time Yeung dove for it.
For a few minutes, the Lynbrook team seemed to get sloppy—two out-of-bounds serves and a double hit by the same player—resulting in an MVHS lead of 18-14 before a time-out was called. Lynbrook fixed its game, however, playing aggressively and skillfully—spiking a strategically low ball that had already hit the ground by the time Yeung dove for it.
Then Victoria took her spikes up a notch. Exerting more power into her shots, Lee helped bring MVHS the lead to 23-19. A ball set out-of-bounds and then four plays from MVHS gave two points to the Vikings and tightened the score—24-21, the second match point of the night. But on Victoria's serve, Lynbrook hit the ball out-of-bounds behind the coaches, leading to MVHS's victory at their last home game.
The players were relieved, but not all that surprised. "I'm glad we won because we were supposed to," Yoshihara said, following the game. "They're a good team, and it was good competition for us."
