Sports
Lady Cougars Volleyball Heads to Playoffs on Winning Note
Balanced play gives Kennedy girls volleyball last tune-up for playoff run; beat Roslyn in straight sets.
The 10-2 Kennedy girls volleyball team completed its regular season with a flourish Friday afternoon, with a decisive three game win at Roslyn High School against a team which, despite its .500 record, showed some punch at home.
The Lady Cougars raced out to a 25-8 opener against a Roslyn squad that looked to be somewhat in awe, held off a stronger challenge in game two, and substituted freely in the finale in a team effort that saw coach Allen Ma able to give lesser used players important playing time.
"Sometimes we show up, and when we do, I think we're unbeatable," Roslyn coach Katie Hoffman said. "Today? We weren't."
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The game featured a clinic at the net by Kennedy's Stephanie Bauman, for whom Roslyn's Nina Hadzibabic and Mariel Chase had no answer. Bauman had 11 kills and a block, plus seven points from the service, line, including three aces. Strong attack work from Keri Stalzer, Jamie Demmett, Heather Hulkower and Jesse Eisemann kept Roslyn off balance all afternoon.
And Sam Sagendorph's even-handed distribution of the ball, especially in the third game, was significant.
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"I wanted to give everyone a fair chance," she said. "It's our team chemistry."
Thus, in game three, Sagendorph notched several of her team-leading 12 assists by feeding the ball not only to Bauman and the regulars, but to third-game insert Lauren Sustad.
Leading the way for Kennedy from the line was libero Heather Hulkower, who had a string of seven winners in game one; Taylor Krug, with four; libero Blake Lippman, who rattled off a string of five aces in a row in game three; and Genna Bruno, who had two resounding aces in game three to help seal the victory.
A fitting tuneup to the playoffs, said Sagendorph after the game. Her goal?
"We're not ready to stop," she said. "We want to win the counties."
Kennedy, as the No. 2 seed, has a bye in the first round of the Class A playoffs, and will face its first opponent from the winner of the 10/11 seed matchup on Thursday at home.
