The Lady Eagles successfully defended their state title tonight, defeating Riverheads in three sets, each with its own unique scoring pattern. In a manner of speaking, Riverheads put up somewhat of a battle in the first one, offered very little resistance in the second, but then fought to the death in the third one before Auburn closed things out with a 27-25 victory.
Before I go any further, let me remind you that you the reader have three strikes against you......1) I don't really know the finer points of the sport; 2) I had to watch on my cell phone, which meant they all looked 1/8 of an inch tall to me; and 3) the scoreboard was not functioning properly making me keep my own score for the most part. But let's soldier on anyway.
I had to miss most of the first set due to a project I could not avoid but as near as I could tell things started off evenly and I think I saw a 13-12 score at one point. But the next time I looked, Auburn was ahead 23-12. My distraction continued so I cannot tell you the final score of that one.
I was then able to watch the final two sets in their entirety. Auburn jumped off to a 10-0 start in the second one, and although Riverheads cut it to single digits once or twice, Auburn easily raced to a 25-8 victory. But in the third set, the Lady Gladiators stepped up their game and decided they were not quite ready to go home. They controlled most of the early stages of the set and at one point took their biggest lead of the night at 16-12. Auburn then rallied to take a 19-16 lead and from there it was a see-saw affair.
With the score tied at 20, something happened that I could not understand. Riverheads at first appeared to be celebrating a go-ahead point, but for whatever reason the point went to the Lady Eagles and the roller coaster ride continued a few more minutes. Technically the match went into volleyball's version of overtime (that much I DO understand!) and finally ended when a Riverheads player gave it a little too much oomph and smashed a return just barely out of bounds, setting off the Auburn celebration.
Congrats to both teams for making it this far but from everything I read, Auburn was actually very young this year. So we could be looking at the beginning of a volleyball dynasty on the Single A level. Riverheads on the other hand loses several seniors but definitely has its program headed (or shall I say firmly established) in a positive direction, since this was their third straight championship appearance.
Before I go any further, let me remind you that you the reader have three strikes against you......1) I don't really know the finer points of the sport; 2) I had to watch on my cell phone, which meant they all looked 1/8 of an inch tall to me; and 3) the scoreboard was not functioning properly making me keep my own score for the most part. But let's soldier on anyway.
I had to miss most of the first set due to a project I could not avoid but as near as I could tell things started off evenly and I think I saw a 13-12 score at one point. But the next time I looked, Auburn was ahead 23-12. My distraction continued so I cannot tell you the final score of that one.
I was then able to watch the final two sets in their entirety. Auburn jumped off to a 10-0 start in the second one, and although Riverheads cut it to single digits once or twice, Auburn easily raced to a 25-8 victory. But in the third set, the Lady Gladiators stepped up their game and decided they were not quite ready to go home. They controlled most of the early stages of the set and at one point took their biggest lead of the night at 16-12. Auburn then rallied to take a 19-16 lead and from there it was a see-saw affair.
With the score tied at 20, something happened that I could not understand. Riverheads at first appeared to be celebrating a go-ahead point, but for whatever reason the point went to the Lady Eagles and the roller coaster ride continued a few more minutes. Technically the match went into volleyball's version of overtime (that much I DO understand!) and finally ended when a Riverheads player gave it a little too much oomph and smashed a return just barely out of bounds, setting off the Auburn celebration.
Congrats to both teams for making it this far but from everything I read, Auburn was actually very young this year. So we could be looking at the beginning of a volleyball dynasty on the Single A level. Riverheads on the other hand loses several seniors but definitely has its program headed (or shall I say firmly established) in a positive direction, since this was their third straight championship appearance.
