It was a memorable night for the Oak Hall School volleyball team.
In their final regular season home game on Tuesday night, the host Eagles, who wore pink as part of “Pink Out” in honor of breast cancer awareness, hit a victory milestone, and swept P.K. Yonge 25-23, 25-19, 25-20 in a Class 2A-District 3 game.
“We knew going into this game that P.K. Yonge probably had gotten a lot better since we saw them at our quad match at the beginning of the season,” said OHS first-year coach Gianna Hooper. “They’re coached by some strong coaches, they’re strong, great volleyball players, so we definitely prepared for this game.”
It was the 20th win of the season for OHS (20-1), which rallied from a 17-11 deficit in the opening game.
Senior Kendylle Bishop (12 kills, 5 aces) had consecutive aces to get within two at 18-16, but a kill by P.K. Yonge 8th-grader Ruby Hampton broke Bishop’s serve at 19-16.
“Ruby is a big difference maker,” said P.K. Yonge coach Chancie Vice. “We talk to her a lot about the pressure that it takes to be a go-to player and the responsibility that it comes with and I think she’s really grown in handling that pressure of, at moments, having to step up and carry the load, so I’m really impressed by her growth and maturity.”
A kill by senior Nicollette Aulisio helped spark a 5-0 Oak Hall run, which ended on an ace by Aulisio for a 21-19 lead.
Aulisio finished with 12 service points.
“For all of her years here at Oak Hall, she has been very much well known for her serves and crucial moments, and so it doesn’t surprise me at all,” Hooper said of her stat line. “She has signed up on this team to be the serving leader, and that fits her role really well. It was a very huge thing for her to go and have some serving aces today.”
P.K. Yonge (10-8) tied the score late on two occasions at 22-all on a kill by senior Nina Bennett and 23-apiece on a kill by Hampton.
Following an attack error by PKY, Bishop gave OHS a 1-0 lead with another kill following a serve by 7th-grader Addison Smith and a 25-23 victory in the opening set.
“We have a lot of girls playing with the flu, myself included, so it was a tough physical game for them to show up,” Vice said. “But the first two sets, I really give props to my team for how versatile they are. We say all the time that champions adjust, and I was flopping them offensively and defensively versus serve and serve received…so they are very versatile and adjust well, and I credit that to them.”
In the third set, the Lady Blue Wave rallied from a 15-7 deficit for a 17-15 advantage thanks to a 10-0 run.
Fugate had nine service points during the run.
“I’m really proud of her confidence,” Vice said. “In the huddle of their timeout, right before she went out there, she’s like, ‘protect my serve. I’m gonna get this in,’ and that’s big time for her, her personality, and really leaning on her teammates in a way of empowering them as opposed to holding them accountable, which is something we talk about a lot.”
But the Eagles seized control behind the serving of freshman Gracyn Dudley for a 21-17 lead.
“Our passing fell apart, and I think that our health took a mental toll on us too,” Vice said. “Getting out of rotation, which we’ve never done all season long, but you know it’s hard to play good when you don’t feel good…I’m proud of the improvement that I’ve seen in my team this year, and really proud in some individual growth from the girls stepping up as leaders.”
The Eagles closed it out with a kill by Bishop and an ace by Bishop for a 25-20 victory.
“Kendylle Bishop is just a force to be reckoned with in the middle,” Hooper said. “She brings a great presence, great leadership. She does really well defensively on the block. But if we’re in system and she’s on front row, we are definitely setting Kendylle and Kendylle is more than likely putting it away with a really big bold kill or a kill with a really effective tip, so yeah, she’s great.”
It was Oak Hall’s fourth straight win since their only loss at The Rock School on Sept. 21.
“P.K. Yonge did a very good job at the beginning of both the first and second sets, really putting the ball away and playing clean volleyball,” Hooper said. “Unfortunately for them, my girls play catch up really well. It’s what we’ve noticed all season long, and so that worked out for us, and in the third set we just did a really good job at finishing and starting high and finishing and then losing a little bit of momentum in the middle but figuring it out.”
P.K. Yonge will host Hawthorne for Senior Night on Thursday, while Oak Hall, which also got 11 kills and 19 digs from 8th-grader Kaitlin Allen, travels to defending FHSAA Rural state champion Branford. The Bucs, who are coached by former Gator Hank Rone, improved to 22-2 on Tuesday night with a 3-1 win against Lafayette (Mayo).