The House of D (OD) team was unleashed back onto the volleyball court for its opening match last Tuesday night, starting the season off strong with a 2-0 (15-10, 15-9) victory over the OH team.
Despite a service ace from Mike Ward, the Ds struggled early in the match, allowing the OH squad to take a commanding 7-1 lead. Good court coverage in the back row and courtside support from Lori Schock helped jumpstart the Ds to take off on a scoring run of 10 unanswered points.
With the score nearly tied at 6-7, Game 1 MVP Cecily Kovatch unleashed a string of tough serves that gave the OH team passing difficulties. With five serves that included one service ace, Cecily tipped the scales heavily in favor of the Ds, who now held a substantial 11-7 lead.
Making his debut on the House of D volleyball team on Tuesday night, newcomer Augusto Moronta contributed to a strong and consistent D offense that allowed the Ds to close out the opening game, 15-10. Reflecting on the game, Bilge Bahar commented, “The OD spikers kept OH on the defense, and Cecily had some great saves!”
The second game opened much like the first, with the Ds struggling in its starting rotation. Poor passing from her teammates left Bilge Bahar spinning around in circles in the setter position, allowing the OH team to jump to an early 3-0 lead.
This time it was Rich Jennings that led the Ds on a scoring run, with a string of serves that helped the D team take a 6-5 lead. With the Ds leading, OH captain Curt Medeiros tried to break the D momentum with a jump serve, but was unable to handle the pressure in typical Curt Medeiros fashion, and sent the serve soaring toward the back wall.
The two teams traded off points and sideouts in the middle of the game, bringing the score to 10-9, with the Ds leading.
With Marcus Lo on the service line and Cecily Kovatch dishing out perfect sets to outside hitter Mike Ward, the House of D scored a string of 5 points to close out game two 15-9, and win the match 2-0.
The D volleyball team is currently scheduled to return to Shad volleyball courts on Tuesday, November 20th at 5:00 pm. There, the Ds will have the opportunity to beat up on Laurent Therivel the rest of his 1st year NA team.