On October 23, the girls’ varsity volleyball beat Francis Lewis High School in a very tight game. The game, which was won 2 sets to none, was a payback victory after the girls lost to Lewis in earlier this season.
The first set was highlighted once again by Townsend’s hustle leading to long volleys, with the girl’s determination and heart helping them to win the points in those volleys. One display of this hustle was shown by Senior Selina Feng, who in one volley had three consecutive blocks, with the last one resulting in a Townsend point. In response to this display, Selina said, “I was hoping after every block that the ball would finally fall.” In addition, after being out played early in the set, trailing 7-2, the girl’s slowly chipped away at the lead and eventually won the set 25-20.
The second set was very much like the first set with the girls getting off to a slow start with Lewis gaining a quick lead. But Townsend had another comeback helping them win the set 25-17. This comeback was led by great defense from Junior Lucy Lim who finished the game with a season high of 11 digs and Junior Emma Noblesala with 9 digs.
Many season best performances came in this game, the biggest one being from the middle blockers of Sophomore Leann Senat and Senior Selina Feng. At the end of the game Leann and Selina combined for 13 kills (with Leann having 7 and Selina 6) all season highs.
Selina was pleased with how she performed, saying “I really like how I’m ending my Townsend volleyball career on a high note.”
Despite the girls having already clinched a playoff berth, this game will have implications on the playoff seeding. But to the girls and Coach Harold Weinstein, this win meant more than getting a better seed, it showed how the girls had potential to compete in the playoffs
“Being able to beat Francis Lewis, a powerhouse team in Queens showed that we can play and compete against other top volleyball teams in the city” said Leann.
Coach Weinstein also noticed how much heart the girls had and how “enthusiastic and happy they were while playing.” This was very important to him since the girls were playing Francis Lewis at Francis Lewis, and had the fact that they lost to Lewis in the beginning of the season in their head
The girls only have two more regular season games before playoffs. They hope to continue their persistent upbeat playing style and win in their next game against Martin Van Buren on October 28.
