By Katie Mitchell
Following their tough loss against Redondo, girls volleyball had a challenging weekend at the annual Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona, where they came in third place overall in the Platinum Division after losing to Marymount.
The Mustangs played a total of five teams over the course of two days. On Friday, the girls defeated Walton, Bishop O’Dowd, and Fort Myers, which put them in first place in their pool and qualifying them for the Platinum Division for the playoffs. On Saturday, the Mustangs competed in the playoffs. The girls beat Hamilton High School, but just fell short to Marymount where they lost 2-0.
“Marymount’s strength was definitely their offense,” Savannah Standage said. “Even though it was challenging, we did a good job staying consistent as a team and keeping our heads in the game.”
The top performer of this tournament was junior outside hitter, Nikki Underwood. According to Standage, her consistency and positivity throughout the game helped the team push through tough matches and keep positive attitudes throughout the tournament.
“I think our team fought really hard this weekend against a lot of high-level teams, and the results definitely showed,” Underwood said. “We were able to come off a loss and play really hard and well against a really good team to finish third.”
The Mustangs, now 4-3, are scheduled to play Palos Verdes High School on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at MBMS. According to senior Jenny Jenks, the girls are looking to improve on their intensity and competitiveness on every point.
“This tournament really helped us bond as a team and I personally think that we will continue to improve as the season progresses,” Underwood said.
Leave a Reply