By Luke Ito
Sports Reporter
This past Friday, the Newton South girls’ volleyball team lost in five sets to a tough Westford Academy on the road. The loss brought the team’s record to 4-2.
Both teams went back and forth for the first four sets with multiple lead changes. South was able to edge out Westford, however, and win the first set to start the match.
“I think it was mainly back and forth with small runs of points on both sides,” senior captain Catherine Patti said.
Westford came back to win the second set, 25-18, followed by a Lions victory in the third, 26-24. The Grey Ghost responded with another win in the fourth by a score of 25-19 to push the match to a fifth, tiebreaker set.
The fifth set was mostly dominated by Westford Academy, ending with a final score of 15-5, giving Westford the match win.
Captain Ella Kim recognized that the match was close, yet the Lions could not find a way to win.
“Our team has the skill to beat Westford but we just lacked consistency and made too many unforced errors to beat them on Friday,” Kim said.
Kim and junior May Boucher both had big games, with 25 and 7 kills respectively.
Kim is entering her senior campaign as one of the most talked about players in the state. She has started on the varsity team since her freshman year at South.
“[She is] one of the top outside hitters in the state,” head coach Todd Elwell said.
Patti was particularly impressed by sophomore Jessica Wu, who played all five sets as the only sophomore to start.
Despite the loss, Elwell still has high hopes for this talented Lions team and believes that they can have a successful season.
“We are currently 4-2 and just lost to the only undefeated team in the DCL [Westford Academy],” said Elwell. “With continued improvement, we will qualify for the state tournament and have the potential to be one of the best teams in Central- East section.”
