Yorktown entered its match at Peekskill looking to start its season off 3-0 but encountered a Red Devils squad that wasn't going to roll over as evidenced by the fact that the first game was tied at 8-8.
Husker coach Katy Sherwood talked about how her team was struggling to shake the host.
"We were ready for bumps and spike and they were sending more free balls over so we had to adjust to that," Sherwood said.
Find out what's happening in Yorktown-Somersfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Yorktown adjusted and then some. Heather Raniolo served six straight points to put the Huskers up 14-8 in a game they eventually won 25-16.
The Huskers then won the next two games 25-11 and 25-17 to win the Friday, Sept. 17 match 3-0.
Find out what's happening in Yorktown-Somersfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"They have some really strong hitters and we just needed to be on with our receive, that was the key," Yorktown senior Jenna Nardi said.
Sherwood was pleased to see her squad make a run when Raniolo was serving in the opening game.
"When we get the ball back, I always want to take advantage of their serves, we have a pretty hard-serving team," Sherwood said. "To open the score up is always comforting."
It's especially comforting when Raniolo is doing the serving.
"Heather is a real aggressive player, who never lets the ball hit the ground, otherwise she's hitting the ground," Sherwood said. "I can always count on her in a tight situation to make an impact."
Nardi then made an emphatic impact with a spike that finished the scoring in the first game.
"It felt really good to do that," Nardi said. "I felt we just needed to end the game right there."
Yorktown broke away in the second game on the strength of the serving of Liz Graham, who helped turn a 10-4 Yorktown lead into a 17-4 Husker advantage.
"She has a tough serve that just barely clears the net and she always has several aces every single game for me," Sherwood said.
Sherwood attributed her team's win at Peekskill to the way it practiced the day before. The team practiced a lot of situations with free balls and second balls coming over the net and it was evident that preparation paid off against Peekskill.
Donika Zherka, Sam Strebel and Erin Sweeney join Raniolo, Nardi and Graham in the Huskers starting lineup and all their contributions have been important in Yorktown's 3-0 start.
"All the starters have obviously contributed a lot with their serving or serve receive," Sherwood said. "Today it was OK but our serve receive has been really great which I have been happy with. And then, whenever people are on the bench and I ask them to go in, they are ready to go in."
Nardi said she felt that the team's success has come from the fact that they work very hard in practice. Sherwood feels that if the Huskers are going to continue to win, their work ethic will have to remain high.
"We have to keep working hard in practice and stay focused for our tougher matches down the road," Sherwood said.
Extra spikes
Some of the Huskers noticed the name of Yorktown High School social studies teacher, Gus Egan, on the wall of Peekskill's John Devins Gymnasium. Egan's name was on the banner honoring the 1994-95 Peekskill boys basketball squad that won the first state title in PHS history.
Egan played with Elton Brand, who went on to be the NCAA Player of the Year at Duke University before becoming a two-time NBA all-star.
