Kingsville, TX. -- The Principia Beach Volleyball Team kicked off their 2018 season in Kingsville, TX at the NCAA Division II Texas A&M Kingsville's 2nd annual tournament. In today's competition Principia took on Stevenson University (Maryland) and Huntington College (Alabama).
Stevenson came out serving tough and showed a nice variety of shot and power on offense. Principia had some good runs relying on their tenacious defense to keep the ball flying and score off of transition. Stevenson took the match, but Principia was motivated to feel more solid with ball control and bold serving.
In the second match of the day, Principia showed marked improvement and was able to relax and play.
Emma Herman and
Amanda Roberts grabbed the first Panther victory of the day at #3 with a decisive 2-0 win behind aggressive serving and solid ball control that let them have fun with their offense.
Cha Cha Fisher and
Devon Marunde pulled out a 3 game victory at #2. They started the match with a tough game one, but looked each other in the eye and steadily improved their play. They found their stride as they problem solved and scored off of defensive transition. After they climbed back into the match, their serving and ball control and offense all started clicking. The deciding game was dramatic with Prin in the driver's seat early on, but HC pulling ahead with a 6 point comeback. Each team had the entire squad on the end line cheering them on, and even though Cha and Dev were down 9-12, they found strength in their partnership and their cheering teammates, and one point at a time pulled themselves back into position to win, and they grabbed the "w"!!
Leigh Weathers and
Alexia Jeangrand lost a close 3 game match at #6. All of the teams felt the progress through the day. It is always good to get the first competition of the season under our belt - it fuels the next stage of training and preparation!
