Newberry Defeats Oak Hall in Non-Conference Volleyball Match

Oak Hall Varsity volleyball traveled to Newberry for Wednesday’s non-conference match. Newberry’s disciplined team pulled through with a 3-1 win.

Despite Wednesday’s loss, the Oak Hall Eagles have had great winning season with an overall record of 14-4. The team recently earned first place at the Bell Invitational Tournament. This was a significant accomplishment as they won against the undefeated Bell Bulldogs. The Eagles are working with a fairly young team with only two seniors.

The Newberry Panther’s have also had a great season with an overall record of 10-7. Assistant Coach Hank credits Middle Blockers Grace Oelrich and Paige Dinges as a major contribution to the win. “Oelrich and Dinges took over and had great games. They ended with a combined 24 kills with 12 each, and 15 blocks. They both put up big blocks which helped our liberos out big time,” said Hank.

Sailing Through Troubled Waters

The Eagles Team Captain Shailey Klein counts this as tough loss to get through given that the season has been mostly winning thus far. “We were expecting a tough match tonight but we wanted a different outcome for sure. Keeping the play in system has been key in our past wins and we struggled a little with that tonight,” said Klein. Although Head Coach Dennis had no comment, Klein explained the team will work on the basics next week and staying consistent with finishing the play. 

In addition, Eagles libero Sophie Miller worked hard in defending the Panther’s offense. Miller explained, “Working their offense is all about reading the hitter’s shoulders. We had some difficulty when they were hitting that right corner.” 

Panthers Assistant Coach also explained they were expecting the match to be neck and neck each game. Coach Hank said, “Oak Hall is also a very disciplined team, they read our balls well and stay in system. I think our aggressive serving tonight put bus over the edge too.”

Coming Up Next

Oak Hall has no matches for the next week which will allow them to focus up and readjust themselves in practice. They look forward to coming back strong in their Bucholz match on October 2. Newberry Panthers will play a conference match against Chiefland High school on Monday.