On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the Archie Willams girls varsity volleyball team played a competitive game against San Rafael High School. The game ended with a final score of 3-1 for their seventh home game of the season. The Falcons fought with high energy and determination throughout the four sets of the game.
The first set began with strong activity from both teams, kicking off with San Rafael serving first. The first set consisted of back-and-forth scoring on both sides of the court, and San Rafael took the early four-point lead. Archie Williams battled back, with sophomore outside hitter Lydia Battaglia managing 12 kills.
The Falcons remained calm and strong, firing back several points to begin their hasty recovery. Point by point the Falcons and Bulldogs approached the end of the first set, with the score in favor of Archie Williams. The set headed into overtime points and the Falcons cleared a close first-set win by, 27-25.
“I’m really happy with our performance, but something I think we need to work on is our service. We made a lot of service errors which led to us missing 14 points,” said Archie Williams’ head coach Lisa Hudson.
The Falcons took the early lead 8-5 at the beginning of the second set. San Rafael quickly picked up their pace, tying the score 14-14, before the Falcons snatched back the lead near the end of the set 20-17. The Bulldogs responded, tying the score 20-20, but after more rallies and scoring, the Falcons secured a set win during the second overtime 28-26.
The Falcons needed to win one more set to close out the game and fought quickly to an 8-4 lead in the third set. However, the Falcons made several service errors which helped San Rafael climb back into the game. Similar to the previous sets, the Falcons continued their back-and-forth scoring towards the end of the set.
Blocks from juniors Felicity Brown and Mackenzie Mann edged the Falcons over the Bulldogs, giving them a slight lead. Just as it seemed the Falcons were going to take home the three-set victory, San Rafael scored the last two points and a close overtime matchpoint forcing a fourth set with a score of 24-26.
“As the game went on we found a desire to win and we were able to come together,” said freshman middle blocker Ada Nichols.
Both teams inched their way up the scoreboard to start the fourth set. Archie Williams then took a big lead making it 13-8, lighting up the crowd. Towards the end of the night, the audience members in the stands cheered team member names, hoping to encourage the players to give it their all and finish the game. The Falcons won the set 25-23, taking home a competitive win against the San Rafael Bulldogs.
“I think this is one of the best games we’ve had as a team, it’s definitely been very up and down, but this is one of our better days, and I feel like we had good energy,” Felicity said.
