Varsity Volleyball Team Defeats Wheatley 3-1

By Kaitlyn Aasheim

To kick off their season on March 13th, the Oyster Bay Varsity Volleyball team defeated Wheatley in four tight sets. 

Set one at Wheatley High School was a close match, but Wheatley defeated the OB varsity team. The final score of set one was 25-19 Wheatley, due to defensive errors and not covering tips.

Junior outside hitter Kaitlyn Kelly says, “Something I think we can work on is our defense and covering.” 

 However, these errors did not continue when Oyster Bay came out on top in the next three sets.

Set two was close, but OB defeated Wheatley 25-23. Communication played a key factor in the team’s set win. Kaitlyn Kelly and Bridget Zahradnik both had multiple kills during this set and communicated with their teammates, calling balls in and out.

Kelly shares, “I think for a first game as a team this weekend we did really well. We did a good job communicating with each other.” 

Senior Caleigh O’Toole agreed with Kelly, adding, “The communication from the team is something we focus on a bunch at practice, so we put a lot of focus on that.” 

After winning set two, the team's energy was through the roof for set three. According to senior Skylar McEvoy, “Our team had so much energy after winning set two. I think winning that second game gave us more confidence that we could win the following sets.” 

McEvoy believes that the confidence and energy among the players is what helped propel the team to victory, producing another 25-23 win against Wheatley in set three. 

In set four, the varsity team was able to pull ahead by six points and beat Wheatley 25-19 to finish out the game. Caleigh O’Toole and Katherine Jennette worked at slowing balls down, and Kelly and Zahradnik both had numerous kills during this set.

Maia Difiglia had 20 assists during the four games, and Bridget Zaharadnik had 11 digs to carry out the win against Wheatley 3-1. 

The players’ serving was a vital component in their victory over Wheatley. Juniors Bridget Zahradnik and Kaitlyn Kelly had three aces in the four-game match, sophomore Katherine Jennette had two aces and senior Maia Difiglia had one ace, leading Oyster Bay 3-1 in the game. 

There looks to be a successful season ahead for this varsity team.