MT. BERRY, Ga. - On Saturday aftenoon, the Vikings had a highlight-reel-filled match with Oglethorpe. Coming out victorious, the Vikings proved their great skills as they fought hard, earning them their amazing victory by a final score of 3-0.
The first set started off with a service error that gave the Vikings the first point of the set. Madie Whitehead scored the first kill for her team 2-0, setting her team's spirit high.
The set moved on smoothly for the Vikings as they continued to keep up their momentum by with working as a team to generate offense. Keira Kruk and Lura Underwood proved to be valuable assets in this set as they helped tremendously with scoring kills, setting them up with a 12-5 lead.
Madie Whitehead and Blakey Barnes would combine to create a great block, with the ball smacking down to the opponent's side, setting the score at 19-7. They have proven to be a good defensive duo with that being one of the many impressive blocks they scored in the first set.
At set point, 24-12, the Vikings fell victim to a slight misfire in their serve, letting Oglethorpe be in charge of the ball. This continued as Oglethorpe showed up with all these points, getting in many kills, challenging Berry. All was for nothing as Madie Whitehead performed the final kill of this set and got the winning point, 25-17.
The second set started with Blakely Barnes scoring the first point. Madie Whitehead followed with another kill, setting the score the same as the beginning of the first set, 2-1.
A service ace from Ava Brovet and back-to- back kills from Madie Whitehead got Berry to finally gain that lead they needed, 12-7.
This momentum that Berry gained started to falter as Oglethorpe started to make up ground, only one point behind the Vikings 14-13.
Berry was able to slowly but surely get their momentum back as Keira Kruk scored a lightning fast kill with Kara Schmit scoring a service ace just moments later, leaving the score at 17-13.
Things started to get more intense as both teams neared the end of the set where Oglethorpe proved to be able to get back up anytime they wanted as they scored enough kills to get behind Berry 1 point, 17-16.
A little back and forth between the teams occurred, with Oglethorpe still managing to stick right behind Berry, 21-20. Kruk scored a great spike behind the opponents, giving the Vikings momentum back.
The two teams continued to go back and forth, as the dust settled at 23-21. A set error from Oglethorpe wemt out of bounds giving, Berry set point. The winning point went to the Vikings as Oglethorpe performed an attack error, leaving Berry as the winner for the second set.
The third set started off with Berry scoring the first kill yet again, 1-0. Although this small victory didn't last long as Oglethorpe went to tie with Berry 1-1 not giving them the lead just yet.
The short tie ended quickly with Berry showing its offensive spurtability with back-to-back points. This was aided by Brovet and Underwood, working together to get in those much-needed kills. The Vikings were able to create a 5 point distance with Oglethorpe, 8-3.
Keira Kruk gained some quick and easy kills for Berry, setting them at 11-5. More points were scored but not without Oglethorpe gaining some momentum too. They caught up slightly at 9-13, cutting it close for Berry.
The set neared the end with the scoreboard 21-16. The Vikings gained the lead and created that needed distance again. Keira Kruk poured in a sleuth of kills, which brought the Vikings in firm control during the end of the set. Underwood kept up this fiery momentum as she scored an ace, hitting match point. The last point was scored with a nice firm block, leaving Berry victorious in the last third set, winning the game, 3 sets to none.
