The FEAST Patriots Red Team finally snagged its first win of the year in exciting fashion, rallying to defeat Legacy Christian Academy’s JV squad in three sets, 25-20, 8-25, 15-8.
Perhaps even more impressive is that the Patriots (1-14) pulled off the victory with just six players. With a standard roster of 10, coach Sadie Schaffner had no substitutes and was forced to play without a libero. Aubrey Ramos, the usual libero, played outside hitter, and all six players contributed to the win.
After rolling to victory in the opening set, the Patriots came out a bit flat in the second. They scored only eight points, allowing all of the momentum to swing in favor of the hosts heading into the decisive third set.
Strong serving was the key for FEAST. Lauren Longoria put together an impressive serve run in the homestretch of the match and built the Patriots a substantial lead. Georgia McCullough delivered a perfect serve on match point, leading to the Patriots’ wild celebration after the Rams committed the final error.
Nevaeh Sage was the team’s leader in serve receive, placing a high frequency of passes in the center of the court for setters Longoria and Jozlyn Perez. The setters responded with their best performance of the season, setting up McCullough and Lenae Sage for a multitude of kills from the middle.
Blue falls in five
In the nightcap of the doubleheader, the Blue Team’s upset bid fell just short, but their showing was noteworthy as they lost in five sets, 26-24, 15-25, 16-25, 27-25, 6-15.
The match began with some excitement as the Patriots (4-9) erased a six-point deficit to notch a 26-24 come-from-behind win. Down 24-21,.Jordyn Tuli hit a sharp cross to stave off the first set point. She then went to the service line and reeled off four straight strong serves, forcing four straight Ram errors and allowing the Patriots to steal the victory.
Legacy responded with better play and fewer errors in the next two sets, and won them by 10 and nine points, respectively. It seemed like the Rams were headed to another comfortable win in the fourth set when they got out to a 20-14 advantage, but then Tuli went to work again. She scored a key kill from the right side that moved her to the service line, just as in the first set. This time, Tuli rattled off four in a row, including two aces, to force the Rams to call timeout.
The team exchanged several points before Legacy had two chances at match point. The Patriots held them off in both instances, then scored three in a row to steal a set for the second time in the night.
The celebration was short-lived, however, as the Rams regrouped and built an early lead in the fifth set that the Patriots would never overcome.
Makayla Allen was the Patriots’ on-court leader, racking up a match-high 33 digs.
Both the Red and Blue teams return to action next Tuesday, Sept, 28, when they host Our Lady of the Hills at 5 p.m. at Order on the Courts.
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