Spartans Win as Drury Volleyball Makes Home Debut
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The day will come when the Drury volleyball team is not satisfied with a three-set loss on its home court.
On Monday, the Blue Devils were thrilled to be playing a match on that court.
Andrea Castillo served 11 aces Monday to lead Monument Mountain to a 25-10, 25-14, 25-10 win.
It was the second victory of the young season for the Spartans. But it was the first home match ever for the first-year program at Drury.
“As this was our first [home] game ever, it felt pretty good,” Drury senior Jayden Vandesteene said. “I feel like we came with good energy.
“We were expecting to play for fun, right? We’ve never had a team before, so I feel like, for literally playing for three weeks, we did pretty well. We didn’t give up, and we just kept pushing.”
And, Drury coach Morgan Shafer said, the team just keeps improving.
“We have come leaps and bounds from where we were when we started,” Shafer said. “We’re finally trying to make plays out there with bumping and setting to other players. That’s nice to see.
“We’re having a little bit more control in our touches, and our serves are getting better. They’re still not there, but they’re getting there. So we’ve improved a lot.”
The Spartans, who went 5-9 a year ago, got off to a strong start on Monday thanks to Castillo’s serve, which delivered five points the first time she went to the service line, giving her team an 8-1 lead in the first set.
Drury managed to keep the margin around there for a while, but a four-point run on Andrea Paul’s serve that featured a kill by Castillo gave Monument Mountain a 19-8 lead.
The Spartans closed with three points on Maya Lang’s serve, the last put away by Paul at the net.
On a day when many of the points were decided without a successful return of serve, Paul and Hazel Curletti delivered some aggressive swings in Monument Mountain’s attack.
“I’m trying to empower these young ladies to feel powerful,” Spartans coach Sydney Carl said. “I really want them to go there and know they have the control and mentally know they can do it.
“They’ve been working hard in practice, and we’re seeing it in the game. They know what to do at the net. Sometimes, it can be really scary at the net, but I think they both feel really comfortable. I’m not surprised. They do this in practice all the time. They are learning how to own the net.”
The Blue Devils took an early lead in the second set, when Izabella Tart served four straight points – two on aces – to give her team an 8-5 lead.
But after a Monument Mountain timeout, the Spartans got a side out, and Heidi Saupe served three points. Two sideouts later, Paul got the ball up, 10-9, and served four points; the Spartans never gave up the lead.
Monument again jumped on top early in the third set. Again, it was Castillo, who served six points to put the Spartans up, 7-1.
It never got any closer, but Drury did give the home crowd a thrill with a four-point run on Emily Lyons’ serve to pull within seven points at 16-9.
That is where it ended, though. Monument Mountain got a side out and a six-point run by Paul to put the set completely out of reach at 23-9.
The Spartans will look to maintain some momentum on Tuesday when they host Libertas Academy Charter School.
Drury (0-2) is home again on Wednesday against Mahar.
“We’re building,” Shafer said. “And my JV team is doing great right now. I think they will have the skills to really push the other girls that are left on my [varsity] team, because I have a lot of seniors who are graduating this year.
“A lot of those young underclassmen are going to be our future. And they’re working hard. I think we’ll be really good before you know it.”