Photo by Balinda Zimmerman
Junior Varsity Volleyball team with Coach Kasey Splitt and Assistant Ashley Straub.
By Balinda Zimmerman
In game two the Lady Reds were not so lucky. Early on Gross Ile took the lead and never looked back. The team was consistently plagued with out of bound returns that likely cost them the game. Milan held on and stayed in the game but finished behind Gross Ile, 25-18.
Game three began with Gross Ile once again in the lead and leaving Milan behind. Although playing hard, the Lady Reds did not necessarily play well. This game saw a lot of missed hits from the back row on service that was aimed well and hard to the center line. All in all Milan was just outplayed on this round in the return of serve department. Win to Gross Ile, 25-14
Game Four and Milan stepped back up to the court appearing to be a different team. #11 Caitlyn Aceves stepped up to serve when the score was a hard fought 4-7 with Milan trailing. Caitlyn began her time at serve and never gave an inch afterwards, continually hammering home in the weak spot of her opponents. Gross Ile snuck back up into the game a bit and the two teams had great volleys and plenty of action, but Milan never once gave up the lead, finishing at 25-19.
Game Five and it is head to head going to the court. The Lady Red team stepped up to the plate so to speak as someone was heard above the crowd reminding them that this would be their last game of the season. They played as though this were their only game of the season. They played hard, and with all the dedication expected of a last game for a winning team. They never stopped, never looked back and never lost the lead, finishing at 25-19. Coach Kasey Splitt and Assistant Ashley Straub, a previous player for Splitt and 2013 Milan graduate, explained how at the end of last year the team had lost all but one returning player, Paige McCormack. Paige shouldered a lot of the weight for the team getting started and rising to the point where they needed to be to compete at a JV level. Splitt credits the freshman girls for really stepping up and playing at higher levels than they thought they could play. She says, “after that first game we honed in on the skills to fit each girl and they did exactly what we expected of them. Winning four games this year was probably a very good start for a rookie team that was freshly put together. Congratulations Junior Varsity on a job well done.
