Tuesday, October 18
Varsity Badminton vs. Hamden High: W 4-3
Recap: Playing at Hamden High, the Porter's badminton team came out on top again in a tightly fought match. After Roanna Zou '19 and Nitya Shah '20 won their matches at #1 and #2 singles, it was left to the #3 and #4 doubles teams to secure the victory --and they did so decisively as the teams of Damia Rizwan '18/Joyce Huang '19 and Michelle Choi '19/Annika Philomin '19 won in straight set victories.
Wednesday, October 19
Varsity Field Hockey vs. Loomis: L 0-5
Varsity Soccer vs. Loomis: T 0-0
Varsity Volleyball vs. Taft: W 3-2
Recap: Porter's took down the #1 team in New England in an exciting match at Taft. Taft had gone undefeated for most of the season, only to lose to Choate the previous weekend. That loss had moved Taft from #1 to #2 in New England (replaced by Choate), but earlier on Wednesday Choate fell to Loomis. This put Taft back on top for approximately 30 minutes while our match raged on. The game was a contest of our best vs. Taft's best. Taft runs a fast offense centered on quick middle attacks used to hold opponent's blockers inside and open up the outside attack. Porter's most dominant skills are serving and blocking, so the strength vs. strength match up truly became a contest of execution. We served over 90% for the match, keeping the ball away from Taft's very talented Libero. We blocked extraordinarily well, with 12 block kills and dozens of contacts denying Taft's hitters the kills they were hoping for. Execution in these two skills really helped to neutralize Taft's strengths and opened the door for the unprecedented upset. Serve receive was another huge strong point, with the team passing over a 1.9 (special mention for Sofia Barth '19 who passed a 2.7 - quite possibly a team record in a game) allowing Porter's to run middle hitter Ellen White '19 as often as possible. In all, it was an incredible effort from a team that has not quite hit its stride yet, but has not given up believing that they are capable of competing with any team on any court on any day.
Saturday, October 22
Varsity Cross Country vs. Westminster: W 25-30
Varsity Cross Country vs. Ethel Walker: W 20-39
Recap: Porter's ran an outstanding team race and was victorious against Westminster (25-30) and Ethel Walker (20-39). Scoring for Porter's were the following athletes: Alexandra Poole '20, Victoria Apuzzo '17, Abi Conner '17, Marisol Carty '19, and Audrey Wallace '18.
Varsity Field Hockey vs. Westover: W 3-0
Varsity Soccer vs. Convent of the Sacred Heart: W 3-0
Varsity Volleyball vs. Hopkins: W 3-0
Recap: Porter's, looking to make a run and qualify for the Class A tournament, found itself facing a familiar foe in New Haven today. With quality coaching and solid fundamentals, Hopkins did not relinquish their court easily. Porter's ground out two set victories on the backs of timely service runs and great blocking, and then found an easier path with a 10pt service run by freshman Callie Godfrey '20 in Set 3 to finally have some margin in the decisive set. Offensively, Porter's executed well - but Hopkins' defense was solid and forced Porter's to execute at a high level several times a rally in order to win each point. It was only after the increased margin in Set 3 that Porter's felt free to really swing away both at the net and behind the service line, and that extra confidence was all it took for the 3-0 victory to come together. This win represents the first three-game win streak of the season, and cannot come at a more opportune time as Porter's currently sits just outside the bubble for a tournament bid.
Sunday, October 23
Varsity Crew @ The Head of the Charles:
Recap: Porter's first boat competed in the Women's Youth 4+ event filled with 85 competitors. They crossed the line with a time of 22:52.45 placing them in 66th place. The boat had a strong first and last mile but the middle of the race proved to be a difficult moment as they faced some of the strongest headwinds on the course. While this may have culminated our racing this season Porter's looks forward to continuing to make some great physical and technical gains through the remainder of the fall season.
