By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – The alternate fall sports season is upon us, and it will fly by in the next two months with many games being played in a short span.
After getting shut out in its first two matches of the season, the Bay Port girls’ volleyball team recorded its first victory of the season by defeating Green Bay Southwest (25-17, 20-25, 25-22, 25-18) in a Fox River Classic Conference matchup March 11 at Southwest High School.
“We got off to a great start,” said Kris Pulka-Schuh, Bay Port head coach. “It tends to settle your team down when you get an early lead, especially when you have lots of new players.”
The Pirates jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening game behind two aces from setter Kyla Hendricks.
“Any time you have the maturity as Kyla has, it helps,” Pulka-Schuh said. “This group is starting to gel. It took some time with all the new bodies. We learned lots in the first two games vs. Manitowoc and Oshkosh West.”
A bit later, Madi Noe ripped a kill from the left sideline to give Bay Port an 18-10 lead, and it coasted to an eight-point victory in the first game.
The Trojans responded in game two behind the height and length of Margie Stevens and Olivia Daane, who continuously caused havoc in the middle by blocking shots.
“Margie and Olivia have been working hard on getting up and being a weapon for us,” said Andrew Heimerman, Southwest head coach. “They were on varsity as freshman and have gotten stronger and have better timing this season.”
With the score deadlocked 15-15, Southwest scored seven of the next nine points to even the match.
The Trojans appeared primed to win game three after they took a 22-20 lead when the Pirates were called for net interference.
However, Bay Port rattled off the final five points behind the play of Izzy Grace to take a 2-1 advantage.
“You’re calling on a sophomore to come through with some quality kills late in a game,” said Pulka-Schuh. “We started identifying when their setter was in the front row. We started to communicate better as the match wore on.”
Midway through the fourth game, Emma Krause connected on back-to-back aces for the Pirates to give them a 17-15 lead.
Later on, Rachel Peed added a kill for Bay Port, as they went on to capture the fourth and final game, 25-18, to take the match.