By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – They don’t call it a rivalry for nothing when these two east side schools meet up.
Sept. 5 was no different as the Green Bay Preble volleyball team edged Green Bay East 3-2 in a match at William Dessart Center.
“Just a great game for all those in attendance,” said Brian Van Den Plas, Preble head coach. “I thought both teams played with so much enthusiasm and passion tonight. We are very happy to come out on the winning side of things.”
After the Red Devils scored the first two points of the match, the Hornets went on an eight-point run behind the serving of Taylor Raduenz and the kills of Grace Perret.
East battled back to a single point multiple times, but ultimately, Preble hung on for a 25-17 game-one victory.
The Red Devils showed their fortitude in game two by playing long points with great defense and setting.
At six all, the East won 8 of the next 11 points behind the quick flicks of Gretchen Farrell and power of Jenna Farra to go up 14-9, eventually taking game two, 25-23.
“We are a team that refuses to die,” said Heidi Kieffer, East head coach. “I thought our leadership was tremendous. The one area I think we can get better at is our serve receive. I felt it cost us in some key points down the stretch.”
After the Hornets prevailed in game three 25-20 and the Red Devils 25-16 in game four, the non-conference match-up came down to a pivotal and decisive fifth game.
With both student sections on their feet, the Hornets went up 2-0 after Melody Siudzinski executed a perfect block on a Red Devils’ kill attempt.
The points kept coming in succession for the home team.
At 7-1, Junior Ella Bialkowski set up Perret for a kill on the near sidelines.
“I thought we played really well against East,” said Bialkowski. “The crowd made it easy to play hard and really push in the final game.”
With the Red Devils down 10-1, Kieffer called a timeout to recharge her team.
East battled back to 12-7, but in the end, the Hornets were just too much, prevailing 15-7 in the finale.
“I saw a lot of good things from the girls tonight,” added Van Den Plas. “We will work on some things that we need to improve on for conference around the corner. We will have to play well against a lot of good teams in this area.”
Box score
Green Bay Preble over Green Bay East: 25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 16-25, 15-7