“I think every time we step on the court, we have to get a little bit better,” Caraway said after Mars won the WPIAL Section 3-5A clash by scores of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-9. “And so we set goals for ourselves. Things that we’ve been working on in practice, we wanna see if we can execute them in a game situation. Those were some of our goals today.”
Southwell led Mars with 11 kills, while Reese Connelly and Alyssa Genis added eight apiece. Gabi Weidemann finished with 32 assists.
The offense relies on Southwell to both contribute to the attack and bring a certain energy.
“I think that when we’re running plays and having fun, we just honestly do a lot better,” Southwell said. “The points are faster and the hits are faster. … We talk in school, we hang out out of school sometimes. It’s just a great group of girls.”
Moon began the second game with a couple of aces by Gabby Bitsura and a kill by Ellie Carothers on the way to a 5-2 start. With the help of Gabby Rossi’s three kills over a four-serve stretch, the Planets powered back even at 10-10, then a Southwell kill and an Alayna Day ace forced the Tigers into a timeout with Mars up 14-11.
“It feels nice,” Southwell said. “Hopefully we’re getting better throughout the season, and hopefully we keep on the upward slope.”
“I think what I was looking for is the team to respond and take control of the match and play our tempo, our game, our match and make adjustments as the match goes on,” Caraway said. “I thought that’s what the players did. … I think that they knew that they had to step up.”
