Consistent serving and an unprecedented on court chemistry lifted the Chatham High School women's volleyball team to a quick 2-0 victory over Hanover Park Monday at home.
Although Chatham has won 10 of its last 11 contests, the team often falls behind early and has to mount a comeback.
Under the leadership of co-captain Liz Maurer, the Cougars appeared Monday like they were finally in sync and playing to win from the first serve.
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"We've started to have team meetings a few minutes before the game starts," Maurer said. "We like to talk about what we need to do, starting strong, and not playing catch up."
Despite three players out with illness or injury, including frontline phenom Lauren Winschuh, the Cougars did just that—started strong.
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"We have a bunch of illnesses, so we had to put people in different positions," head coach Kristin Lopez said. "I am really proud of how they came together."
In the first game, Amy Lee came to the line with the Cougars leading 3-2. She served 12 points in a row, and was helped by two kills from Marissa Young and one by Maurer during the stretch.
Lee had 19 service points on the day with six aces. Young had five kills on the day, while Maurer recorded 10 kills.
By the time the Hornets were able to earn a side-out, the Cougars led 15-3, a gap that Hanover Park could not close and Chatham won the first game, 25-12.
In the second game, the Cougars came out even stronger. Co-captain Sam Thiel, the first on the team to serve, reeled off eight straight points, including two aces. Thiel recorded 13 service points on the day, three of which were aces.
Defensively, the Cougars held Hanover Park to only two service possessions the entire second game and won 25-10.
Chatham, which improved to 11-1, will face Morris Catholic on Wednesday before playing Randolph Friday at home in the Morris County Tournament on Friday.
"I want as many girls as we can healthy on Friday," Lopez said. "We definitely have the ability to make it to the finals, we just need to believe we can do it."
