Taking the first, second, and fourth sets, and led by junior Tessa May, SFU won a close game against the Central Washington Wildcats on Thursday, November 16 in the West Gym (25–20, 25–13, 23–25, 25–23).
The Wildcats took an early 6–3 lead in the first set, but the SFU girls rallied and stole the lead by scoring six points in a row, taking the score to 9–6 for SFU. After being blocked by the Wildcats twice, the girls scored another four straight points, securing the lead for the set, and eventually finishing it 25–20.
The second set of the game started with SFU ahead of the Wildcats, but not with much room to breathe. However, after a score of 15–12, the SFU girls went on a scoring streak, losing only one point for the rest of the set, finishing well ahead with 25–13.
In the third set, the Wildcats fought back, taking and holding a safe lead for the first half. SFU pushed hard and caught up to them with a tie at 18–18. The rest of the set was point for point, never clear who would take it, until the last couple points of the set. The final rally of the set was a long one. But despite two fantastic digs by Jayme Bratsberg, the Wildcats took the set 25–23.
The final set was neck and neck the whole way through, with the biggest lead by either team being 15–12 for the visitors. Continually tying the score, neither team could separate themselves from the other until the very end, when an error by Central Washington won the game for SFU.
Head coach Gina Schmidt commented on the performance of both the SFU girls and Central Washington, telling The Peak, “We know we are going to have a good game [whenever we play] Central. They are a good team this year. Thankfully we managed to be on the winning end of [the game].”
“[Tessa] May was at her best on Thursday with a match-high 17 kills on 29 attempts for a .552 hitting percent,” reports SFU athletics. Christine Howlett and Kirsten Pinkney followed May with 13 kills each. The defence of the game was led by Katerina Dolguikh, Julia Tays, and Jayme Bratsberg with 22, 16, and 13 digs, respectively.
This game was the second-last of the season for the team. SFU volleyball will be finishing off its season on Saturday, November 18 against Northwest Nazarene at 7 p.m. in the West Gym. The game will be the final match for seniors Christine Howlett and Madison Power.
