This was no ordinary league volleyball match on Tuesday night. And while there was a storm outside lighting up the Dexter night, the lightening somehow moved inside to help electrify a league volleyball match between perennial state power – and state ranked – Skyline and the up and coming host Dreadnaughts.
The Dexter students packed the bleachers, and even the band sent a group of musicians to help give the evening an electric atmosphere. And the home team responded – at least at the start.
Dexter played a very strong first game before falling to the talented Eagles, who then went on to easily win the next two in a three-game sweep. But the Eagles certainly had to up their game in this one.
Skyline, ranked fourth in the state in Division 1, won 25-22, 25-14 and 25-12 in this SEC Red matchup.
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“They came out really strong,” said Skyline Coach Chris Cristian of the Dexter team. “We have a target on our back and they came out gunning for us. It shows us that we need to be ready because there are a lot of good teams out there and they want to knock us off. They have a really good team.”
And so does Skyline.
“They are obviously a very strong program and do a lot of things really well,” said Dexter Coach MaKenzi Welsh. “I was very happy with how we came out. I thought we came out very strong and maybe a little too strong because we didn’t keep our play at that level for the next two games but you have to give them a lot of credit. They are one of the best teams in the state.”
Welsh was very proud of how her team fought and competed all night long. “We played hard all the way to the end and I liked to see that despite it not being the outcome we wanted,” she said.
Dexter brought the thunder from outdoors onto the court, jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the opening game. While Skyline didn’t call a time out, the Eagles knew they had to up their game – which they did. A tip by Harper Murray cut the deficit to 8-7 and then a spike by Amelia Bertrand tied the game at 11-11.
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The Dreadnaughts scored the next three points to take a 14-11 lead. A spike by Skyline’s Autumn Gorman tied the match at 16-16. But a block by Dexter’s Mikah Salemi gave the hosts a 17-16 lead. And a block by Dexter’s Alison Parachek tied the game at 20-20.
A strong play at the net by Dexter’s Liliana Burns evened things up again at 22-22.
But Skyline got a spike by Murray and then an ace to help put the game away at 25-22.
In the second game, the Eagles started strong. Two aces by Murray gave the visitors a 9-4 lead. A spike by Liliana Burns cut the lead to 11-6 and a nice tip at the net by Allison Bockrath brought Dexter to within 12-9. An ace by Skyline’s Ayla Dunbar gave the Eagles a 15-9 lead.
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Dexter’s Salemi tipped the Dreadnaughts to within 19-13. But the Eagles took off from there – a spike by Kate Maley made it 20-13, a Murray ace made it 21-13 and another spike from Maley – who had a strong game for the visitors – finished the game off at 25-14.
Maley gave Skyline a 7-4 lead in the third game. A spike by Bertrand gave the Eagles an 11-4 lead. And another spike by Maley pushed Skyline ahead 13-5. A spike by Dunbar gave the Eagles a 22-10 lead and they cruised to a 25-12 win.
