Stanton HS- After a rough weekend at the ‘Battle of the Beaches’ in Venice, Bishop Kenny arrived at the Lady Blue Devils gym ready for the action. Although Stanton lost one of their best players over the weekend due to injury, the girls remained hopeful and receptive of their opponent. As if it were an reenactment of the ‘Hatfield and McCoy’s’ across the courts , both teams would diligently battle until victory.
Bishop Kenny would serve up the first set quickly picking up a point. The Lady Crusaders plays were met point for point as Stanton strategically used the opportunity to score off of their rivals errors with kills from Hayley Greene and Kyleigh Castengera. While at serve, Bishop Kenny’s Cameron Fenner would assist her team with consecutive points to capture the 16-8 lead over the Lady Blue Devils. As Emilie Chinault owned the net, Tina Nika would send across powerful serves assisting the Lady Crusaders to end the first set 25-18, Bishop Kenny,
Stanton’s attempts to recover in the second set were met with a strong Bishop Kenny defense. Chinault’s serves set the foundation for an early 6-0 Lady Crusader lead. Bishop Kenny would end the second set 25-13 with the help of Allison Cavanaugh’s immense kills.
Heavyn Doxey’s towering presence on the court and Jennifer McDonnell’s quick witted saves would prove to be no match against the determined Lady Crusaders. Kiersten Connolly exhibited a show stopping performance at serve which catapulted the third set score to a final 25-13, Bishop Kenny.
Bishop Kenny’s coach Suzanne Winkler advised, “The girls were excited to play. They re-grouped, focused on what is important and they played for each other.”.
Stanton is now 3-8 and will move forward to face Raines. Bishop Kenny is also 3-8 and will advance to face Fernandina Beach. Both teams are expectant to improve on their records,
