There’s nothing quite like an intense rivalry between two high schools, so you can only imagine how crazy things can get when athletic teams from Baylor and GPS face off. Who cares the sport…it’s always a spirited battle, regardless of the outcome and who cares what the team records are.
These two teams met for the second time on the volleyball court at Baylor Monday evening. The Lady Red Raiders have played in front of some hearty crowds in the past, but nothing like Monday where additional bleachers were brought in to fill the space behind the two teams. And while the bleachers were packed, it was standing room only as students from both schools totally surrounded the court.
And you know it’s been an amazing event when there’s a traffic jam leaving a volleyball match.
Baylor had beaten the Bruisers in straight sets the first time they played at GPS. Since that time, the Lady Red Raiders have been on a mission and they entered Monday’s play having already clinched first place in the D-II, AA-East Region with six wins against no defeats while their overall record was 23-4.
Monday’s match meant more to GPS than Baylor as a playoff spot was still on the line, but the Lady Red Raiders had another outstanding performance as they won in a sweep again, this time by scores of 25-12, 25-17 and 25-7.
GPS is now 20-14 for the season.
Very rarely do you ever see a crowd for a high school volleyball match, even at the end in a state final. But Baylor coach Sarah Lail knows just how passionate her Red Raider backers are and she was just happy that her team got to put on a quality demonstration about what good volleyball is all about.
“This was just so exciting. I know it’s Spirit Week and that’s a big deal, but this was a bigger crowd than you see at most college matches,” Lail began as the fans continued to head for the exit.
“It’s nice to be able to show off our skills and to see just how much our hard work has paid off. And that volleyball can really be a fun sport to play.
“They really showed out tonight and I was glad that we finished on such a strong note. We knew we had the upper hand after two sets, but we just want to continue our momentum as we enter post-season. What we didn't want to do was let our foot off the gas pedal,” Lail added.
Katrina Jenkins is now the interim coach for the Bruisers, taking the place of Alfie Dodd, who is no longer at GPS. She knew that her team was facing a monumental challenge, but she’s so proud of the progress they’ve made and feels confident that the future of GPS volleyball is bright.
“These girls have gone through a lot this season and they’ve improved quite a bit since the beginning,” she began.
“We know that we can play better as tonight didn’t show the progress and resiliency of these players. We’re disappointed in the loss as we are better than this, but it was an up and down match for us and we could never seem to string anything together that worked.
“We knew it would be a crazy atmosphere, so we practiced yesterday with blaring music and yelling voices. I thought we played better in the second set as we made some adjustments, but we just couldn’t get it done at the end,” she concluded.
Sophia Jenkins had a block to score the first point for GPS and the score was still tied minutes later at 7-7.
Rory Oleksik then stepped to the service line and provided five straight points, including three with aces, to give Baylor a five-point lead.
Brenna Bagley did the same thing to stretch a 16-10 lead to 21-10 before back-to-back kills from Sydney Sharpe and Addi Kegerreis wrapped up the first set for the Red Raiders.
Baylor led all the way in the second set, but Lail called a timeout when the Bruisers got within four at 21-17 on a kill from Sophia Jenkins.
Back-to-back kills from Emma Mulvaney and Bagley combined with two GPS hitting errors wrapped up the set as Baylor scored the final four points.
It didn’t take long to finish the match as the Lady Raiders built a quick 6-1 lead. Mulvaney and Sally Frost then combined for 11 straight service points as the Baylor lead was 21-6, the Lady Raiders wrapping things up with another kill from Sharpe, an ace from Bagley and another kill from Sharpe.
A final hitting error by the Bruisers ended it.
Sharpe had another outstanding match as she finished with 21 assists and 11 kills. Bagley had eight digs while Oleksik had seven. Mulvaney and Oleksik also had three aces each while Kegerreis played well and finished with 10 kills.
Jenkins finished with a dozen assists and three kills to lead GPS while Cadence Nichols had eight kills. Cat Nygaard had a couple of aces while Georgia Mae Anderson had two blocks.
Baylor will be at home on Monday to face the home-schooled Patriots and then again on Tuesday to face Knox Catholic.
GPS STATS:
Ellie Holland – 2 digs
Cat Nygaard – 3 digs, 2 aces
Cadence Nichols – 8 kills, 1 block, 1 ace
Georgia Mae Anderson – 2 blocks
Chapman Mathis – 2 digs
Sophia O’Keefe – 2 kills
Sophia Jenkins – 12 assists, 3 kills, 1 block
Addi Smith – 1 block.
BAYLOR STATS:
Brenna Bagley – 8 digs, 2 aces, 2 kills
Jessy Blevins – 2 digs
Sally Frost – 1 dig, 1 ace
Addi Kegerreis – 1 block, 10 kills
Nina Lail – 4 digs, 1 assist
Emma Mulvaney – 4 digs, 3 aces, 7 kills
Rory Oleksik – 7 digs, 3 aces
Bailey Shahan – 2 blocks
Sydney Sharpe – 2 digs, 21 assists, 11 kills
Kaiulani Sherrow – 3 kills.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)