The Dexter volleyball team strolled into Skyline on Tuesday night with a 23-2 record and undefeated in league play. The final results would indicate that the Eagles were not impressed when actually they were because Skyline was ready and took their game to new heights in a matchup of the two best teams in the SEC.
Great teams play their best against strong competition and Skyline proved just how great they are with an easy (based on the scores) win over Dexter. The Dreadnaughts never won a game and never got to 20 points as the Eagles landed wins of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-17 in a three-game sweep.
The Eagles, ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press’ Division 1 rankings, handed Dexter its first league loss and only third of the season.
While the scores show an easy win, Dexter put up a good fight all night long. But it seemed every great shot they made, Skyline responded with another great play on the other side of the net. Against other teams, those balls would land as points but the Eagles aren’t other teams.
SEE 140 PHOTO GALLERY OF SKYLINE-DEXTER GAME
The game was played in front of a large crowd, including two enthusiastic student sections who showed up to cheer on their classmates.
Junior standout Harper Murray led the Eagles with 12 kills while Ayla Dunbar had 10 and Cari Bohm contributed nine. Murray and Lauren Lee each had 17 serves and two aces. Jordan Hall had 14 serve-receive attempts while Dunbar had 10. Murray had 24 hits, Dunbar had 23 and Kate Maley had 22. Lee had a game-high 26 assists and team-high 13 digs. Hall had 11 digs.
Dexter was led by Jamie Giese (8 kills), Veronica Sannino (16 digs), Anna Creech (6 kills and 8 digs), Avery Goodrich (11 digs) and Braedy Wineman (17 assists and 12 digs).
An ace by Sophie Schrag gave Skyline an early 3-1 lead in the opener. A block and then a tip by Bohm pushed the Eagles in front 6-2 and a spike by Schrag made it 11-6. The Dreadnaughts came back with an ace from Salemi to make it 11-8 and then a tip by Creech made it 12-9.
A spike from Murray moved Skyline in front 14-9 and then a block by Bohm gave the home team a 17-10 advantage. An ace by Murray gave the Eagles a 19-11 lead. A block by Dexter’s Salemi cut the deficit to 22-11 but a spike by Lee made it 24-13. The Eagles went on to a 25-14 win.
SEE 140 PHOTO GALLERY OF SKYLINE-DEXTER GAME
In the second game, a spike by Hanna Quinn spiked the Dreadnaughts to a 2-0 lead. A great save by Lee led to a tip by Murray as the Eagles cut Dexter’s lead to 5-4. Murray then helped serve Skyline to a 9-5 lead. A tip by Maley made it 10-5, a spike by Dunbar made it 14-6 and a block by Dunbar made it 16-6.
Dunbar’s spike pushed Skyline to a 19-9 lead. A spike by Dexter’s Savannah Smith cut the deficit to 19-10 and then a tip by Giese cut it to 20-12. But the Eagles were just too far in front for any kind of rally. Murray delivered a monster kill to make it 23-13 as the Eagles won game two 25-15.
The third game was a little more competitive – Dexter wasn’t just going to let this go without a fight.
Lee’s ace gave Skyline an early 5-3 win and then Murray helped serve the Eagles to a 9-4 advantage. A spike by Maley made it 13-5 and Bohm tip made it 15-6. Dexter’s Creech delivered a spike to cut the lead to 17-10 but Murray’s spike made it 21-12. A spike by Bohm made it 25-17 and ended the night.
SEE 140 PHOTO GALLERY OF SKYLINE-DEXTER GAME
Jacoby: Dexter discovers Skyline is at another level – for now (See photo gallery – 140 photos)
