Indian Springs Volleyball started their regular season off strong with two wins on Thursday (August 24th) against Jefferson Christian. 

After only two practices, JV started off their first set nervous and a bit disorganized; not  a good match for JCA’s scrappy and collected defense. Although the JV JCA team does lack in terms of height, their tenaciousness and strong defensive strategy makes up for it; they were able to get a number of free ball kills and back row hits. Meanwhile, Indian Springs was compounding error after error, and missing serves while they were getting adjusted to a new rotation: a 5-1 offense. The highlight of the set was when JCA accidentally passed through the basketball hoop, scoring for Indian Springs. After a promising streak of serves from middle blocker Alexandra Watson it seemed like they might turn the set around, but it was ultimately futile and JV lost their first set 25-21.

However, we came back to the second set as a new team. Returning to their familiar 6-2 offense, JV transitioned much smoother from offense to defense and was able to run an attack. The jitters of the first set had long passed and their passing and receiving improved. Their serving was much stronger than the previous set, enough so that they had several aces. Outside hitter Betty Kurr killed any chances the team had of redemption with her amazing serving. Setter Lauren Allen got several back row hits (even if 2/3rds of them were technically illegal). All around the team played very well and won 25-19.

During their final set JV was ready to close out strong, and that's exactly what they did. Using the momentum of the previous set they got several hits, free ball kills, and were able to get inside JCA’s heads. Now they were the ones compounding errors on defense and missing serves. Meanwhile, JV had more excellent serving from Margot Chitwood, Betty Kurr, Michelle Tate, and Taylor Elder. The game ended with JV winning the set 15-8 and the game 2-1!

Not long after, Varsity started their game off close, but confident. Although they played well, the game went back and forth until the 12th point when, after a rally that went on for at least three full minutes, Indian Springs scored. For setter JB, this was the decisive moment of their victory. “I was honestly really shocked, but I was really excited. When we played JCA last year we lost and even though we hadn't had much practice together, we played really well as a team and we had confidence in each other's ability. We all knew what to do and how to do it successfully. Early on when we were evenly matched we had a super long 3 or 4 minute rally. Once we won that one we knew we would win the game.” Varsity won their first set with ease.

Going into their second set Varsity played with the same undeniable confidence with amazing passing from Beth Scarbourough, Kat Walwork, Phoebe Evans and Annette Linton and flawless setting from Julia Butrus and Addison Doyle. The excellent defense gave our hitters the confidence to hit almost every chance they got with freshman outside hitter Kate Tompson starting her debut on the Varsity team off very strong. Cara “Tuff” Huff was able to get into #40’s head with a flawless block, taking out JCA’s most lethal 6 '1 weapon. “I think we won first and foremost, because we worked very hard. We run drills and play until we get them down pat. Our cohesiveness on the court stems from our consistency,” is what Cara Huff had to say about the game. Julia Butrus had “some of the best zone serving at a highschool level” that Coach T had ever seen during this set. The team played as a cohesive machine with minimal errors and rallies that were truly fun to watch and to play. According to several members on the team it was some of the most fun they had ever had on the court. Cara Huff, Kennedy Doyle and Kate Tompson ran a flawless offense and varsity won their second set. 

The star of the third and final set however, seemed to be Josie Butler’s right side hitting. Julia Butrus was told by Coach Box to set more to the right side so that it would be harder to block. Josie has played setter in the previous seasons, but with the return of Addison Doyle, she was finally able to show off her skills as a hitter. Josie got set several times thanks to the perfect passes from the back row. “Usually I don’t remember the details of a game. I kind of black out and regain consciousness after the fact. But in this particular game, I remember our right side hitter, Josie Butler, getting a killer hit towards the end of the game. It was a great side of her to see, said Cara Huff. Varsity won this set, sealing our sweep against Jefferson Christian!

This promising start hints at a great season for Indian Springs Volleyball and we hope you will all join us at our JV away game against Altamont on Wednesday August 30th, and wish Varsity luck on their trimatch at Westminster on the 31st. Cross country also has their first meet on the 31st! Go Springs!