Elsah, ILL. -- Principia played host to Lewis & Clark Community College and Fontbonne University beach volleyball pairs. Prin's
6 and 7 pairs competed against Fontbonne, and Prin's #1-5 played Lewis & Clark. The Principia pairs won all seven matches on a beautiful afternoon in Elsah.
#6 Zoe Mahler and Mesa Goebel and #7 Laura Cluthe and Anna Webster started the afternoon off with some fine play. Laura and Anna stuck with their signature game of gritty defense and rainbow shots pushing the opponents back deep in their court. They also pushed each other to work on some things they are still trying to install in their game. Principia won in two straight 21-7, 21-7. Zoe and Mesa struggled at the beginning, but they kept working at it, and through diligence and grit they tightened up ball control and executed their offense nicely. Zoe and Mesa won 21-16, 22-20.
#5s Amanda Roberts and Emily Tippetts played a nice match. Amanda was running balls down all over the court, and their offense had a nice diversity with Emily's power kills and Amanda's cuts and rainbows. Some tough serving from both helped to seal the deal. They won 21-4, 21-15. #4s Makena Patterson and Victoria Vandiver had a slow start, but built their game back into their signature style of pushing and pulling the defense to find open sand. Victoria had some strong serves and several aces, and both women found deep corners and wide cut shots to score. After losing set one 19-21, Mak and Tor came back to grab the "w' 21-18, 15-12.
#3s Cha Cha Fisher and Devon Marunde played an energetic game with soulful defense. They served tough, and Devon had some great hard hits that combined with Cha's shots that moved and frustrated their opponents. Cha and Devon won 21-14, 21-15. #2s Nikki Matters and Emelie Fredrikson were focused and determined, as usual. They committed to serving tough and aggressive, and they also covered the court extremely well on defense. They had more than a few great run-downs that got the crowd going and scored! #1s Sophia Hathaway and Noelle Shoemake finished the night up with a 21-17, 21-16 win over LCCC. They combined power with finesse to rattle their opponent, and that together with their intentional serving more than set the stage for the win.
Principia beach volleyball finishes up their season next weekend in Maryland.
