Story and Photo by Brennan Waldorf
Nandua Warriors continue outstanding play as they recorded their second district home win in three days last Thursday. The Warriors, who had just come off a win from district leader Chincoteague, continued their production at home against Arcadia. They beat the Firebirds in four close sets (25-21, 23-25, 25-22, and 25-20)
The first set began with an ace from Logan Stapleton but it didn’t take long for the Warriors to settle down and dig into the Arcadia squad. They put themselves up 6-1 behind the serving of Nandua Deanna Pryor. The Firebirds were behind the entire set but kept themselves in the game as both teams were riddled with hitting errors that often saw balls going into the net or out of bounds. There was an interesting twist on the game point, as Arcadia was attempting to return a serve, a horseshoe was knocked down from the rafters falling to the court. All players were safe and after a brief pause the game continued and was won 25-21 after Jamie Wert delivered a spike from the middle.
The second set started with chants of “We ready, we ready, Warriors” from the students’ section that pumped the Warriors up as they started the game with a spike from Lyric Sampson. Arcadia players, rattled but not shaken, came right back delivering a spike of their own from Emani Press. The Firebirds would get their first lead of the night in set two after another hard spike hit the Warriors’ floor putting them up 10-9. The two teams took turns leading throughout the set. Arcadia ultimately got the edge on the Warriors after a kill by Julia Rehbein followed by a Nandua hitting error, taking the set 25-23.
The last two sets were all Nandua as they swept the Firebirds in back-to-back sets. Jamie Wert would lead the way for the Warriors having a terrific night behind the line and in the middle of the front row. She recorded several aces as her serve often came in so low that Firebirds were frequently diving to the ground to dig them up. The third set came to an end after a Nandua timeout allowed the Warriors to execute a perfect play that resulted in another spike from Wert taking the set 25-22. Set four was close but the Warriors continued their strong play and would win after a variation of hitting from Lyric Sampson. She put the game away after a hard spike was deflected off Arcadia, followed by a masterful soft play that floated just over the blockers in front of her. Her back-to-back kills lifted the Warriors over Arcadia 25-20.
