A busy week ended successfully for the Xavier sand
volleyball team on Friday (March 13).
The Gators won their third match of the week and fourth
overall with a 5-0 triumph over Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep at Grand Canyon
University in Phoenix.
Xavier coach Tim McHale is pleased with the way things are
coming together.
“We’ve got a good group of core players back from last year
(when the team won the state championship), and they understand the concept of
what we are trying to do,’’ McHale said. “And we have some young, athletic kids
coming along.
“We are trying to get better and are working hard. The girls
are starting to see the fruits of their labor.’’
Injuries and other issues have led McHale to mix and match
with some of his two-person teams. That means the girls have to learn quickly
and adjust to different playing partners.
One of the players making the adjustment is junior Kasie
Thompson, who played with Ainsley Ramsey on Friday and came away with a 21-6,
21-7 victory.
Other XCP duos taking wins were Cierra Flood-Kristen Klein
(21-5, 21-4), Kailey Klein-Emma Strouse (21-8, 21-19) and Macy Gordon-Carolyn
White (21-4, 21-9). Rancho Solano forfeited a scheduled fifth match because it
did not have enough players.
Thompson said she had played the traditional indoor version
of volleyball and when she decided to try sand, “I just fell in love with it.
It is so much more relaxed.’’
Some matches, she said, “can start off a little ugly when
you have a new partner. But once you get to know each other, figure out what
each other can do, that makes it a lot better.’’
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