After a win over Kentwood, it looked like the Kentridge High School volleyball team was turning a corner — and they had a great opportunity to prove it against Mount Rainier, which was looking down at the rest of the 4A NPSL as they sat in first place.
The Chargers failed that test and fell to the Rams 3-1 in four sets on Oct. 13, but Kentridge showed flashes of a team that could beat a team the caliber of Mount Rainier. But the Chargers just couldn’t find enough consistency and ran out of gas as the Rams cruised to a victory.
“We are a relentless team. We play good defense and work hard. They had an opportunity to beat that team, we just gotta play a little more clean,” Head Coach Jeremy Irey said.
Kentridge has now lost four out of its last five and really is behind the eight ball heading into their final six matches of the season, as they are in sixth place.
The opening set was very competitive, with Kentridge actually taking a 6-1 lead early in the first set. Mount Rainier took their first lead at 15-14, but the Chargers responded to take a 20-18 advantage. But the Rams went on to win seven straight points and win set one.
“I don’t think we felt any pressure (playing the No. 1 team in the league). I think if we can start playing a full match like we are playing at times, we can beat teams like Mount Rainier,” Irey said.
Set two was a bit different, the outlier of the night in the fact that there were zero lead changes. Kentridge led the entire set and gave the crowd a glimpse of what they were capable of.
“We were better than them tonight. We were a better team than them tonight, there is no doubt,” Irey said.
Mischa Vu bumps the ball over the net for Kentridge. Ben Ray / The Reporter
On all sides of the game, Kentridge was just a bit better than Mount Rainier in the second set leading to their only set win of the night.
“We played good defense and had aggressive offense and serving. We were better in serve receive and better in defense than them. In that set we were a little better offensively. We gotta find a way to do that in all sets,” Irey said.
Kentridge is an undersized team in terms of height with no player taller than 5’9” (Samantha Holbrook). So they have a much smaller margin for error against the best teams in the league, like Mount Rainier.
“We are an undersized team. We work on a lot of serving and aggressive serving in practice. I expect every one of my girls when they are back there to be aggressive serving. We have to serve better than the other teams because we are small,” Irey said.
In the third set, it played out similar to the first. This time it was Kentridge fighting to stay in the set and they did so, especially behind good serving from Tofi Luuga. The sophomore setter helped lead a Kentridge run to cut the lead to 20-19, but the Chargers couldn’t get over the hump, losing 25-22.
In what would be the final set, Mount Rainier just kept their momentum and steamrolled to a fifth set win. The Chargers never cut the lead to anything less than four, and dropped set five 25-22.
“We have to be consistent, be smart and know what your job is. Knowing when we are setting, knowing that we want to set up the net because we are a smaller team. We need to not make silly mistakes,” Irey said.
Kentridge senior Samantha Holbrook goes for the kill against the Rams. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Six matches remain on the schedule and for the Chargers to go on a run and make a push to the playoffs. “I want to see a little fight when things aren’t going your way. Just like life, it’s not easy and you need to push yourself and work through the tough spots and challenge yourself on the court,” Irey said.
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