Girls volleyball: York beats Downers South in 3
Once the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, York senior Kayla Rask opted not to play club volleyball yet tried to remain optimistic about any kind of a final competitive high school season.
"Definitely during the summer it was on and off. But just we kept that hope and anytime that we could, we tried to get in the gym together and that really kept the sprits up," Rask said.
For Rask and the Dukes, that mentality served them well Thursday.
After a rough ending to the first set, York persevered for a 15-25, 25-19,25-20 victory at Downers Grove South in the season opener for both teams.
York never trailed after breaking a 15-15 tie in the third set but had to regain momentum after the Mustangs' Kayden Dempsey served the last 11 points to close out the first set - all after York opened with junior Madeline Mountcastle serving them to a 7-0 lead.
"Momentum is a big part of the game and when you lose it, it can be hard to get it back," Rask said. "It's actually really nice (playing) because a lot of us weren't expecting a season. A lot of us came out just wanting to have fun and not worry about how we're doing, just wanting to play together and do the best that we can."
Rask led York's balanced attack with eight kills and also had a team-best four aces and seven digs. She even served match point on Ella Lawton's kill.
Grace Meadows, Ella Contant and Lawton each had six kills. Mountcastle and Meadows had 18 and 12 assists, respectively, and Katie Norgle collected 14 digs and two aces.
Senior Alyssa Jones led the Mustangs with eight kills, followed by five from Lily Ross and four from Dempsey. Senior libero Holly Kaczmarek had 16 digs with six from Ross. AJ Huskin and Kaitlyn Berryman had 12 and seven assists, respectively. Natasa Prpa had three blocks.
"Our next couple of games we're going to come out so much stronger getting in the gym more because we have so much talent," said Ross, a senior.
"I'm so glad to be in the gym. I cannot even express how excited I am that we have the opportunity to be in the gym. Even if it is a short season, we're going to make the most of it for sure."
Both squads last played Nov. 4, 2019, losing successive matches in the Class 4A Glenbard West Sectional semifinals.
The Dukes have 10 seniors, but Tuesday their two Division I recruits - Gigi Barr (Yale) and Emily Fleckenstein (Maryland-Baltimore County) - were absent because of club volleyball tournament commitments. Four others left immediately after the match.
"It's our first match out. You could tell. But we finally did jell and started to work with each other toward the end," York coach Patty Iverson said.
Learning behind the veteran outside hitters, Rask had 10 kills the entire 2019 season.
"I really just want to come out, have fun, play as best as I can," Rask said. "A lot of us have been playing since third grade so this is kind of like our final season. Just have fun and play as hard as we can."
With social distancing restrictions, Jones said she was disappointed she couldn't lead former pregame rituals. While fans attended the opener, Jones said her parents and siblings can't attend.
"Some of my friends on the other (York) team, I can't even talk to them," Jones said. "Obviously it's very disappointing because it is so different from what we've been experiencing the past three years. Mustang volleyball has gotten me through a lot personally. I've been looking forward to my senior year."
The match also was a learning experience for the Mustangs, who are initiating a two-setter offense with varsity newcomers.
"We're only had six, seven days of practice so far and we're still trying to figure out who is setting for us and from where. It's going to take time for them to learn our offense to how fast we want to run it," Downers South coach Kristina Toth said.