By Zech Capco and Rikki Pepino

On Thursday, October 25, the varsity volleyball teams of Tuscarora and Freedom High School squared off in a heated conference match.Tuscarora started off on the right foot, scoring the first points of the game.

Towards the beginning and end of the first period, Freedom held a tight grip on the score, but in the end, the team could not keep up. Tuscarora won the first period with a final score of 25-18.The second period, like the first, ended with a victory for Tuscarora.

The same cannot be said for the third period, however, as Freedom took the win. Even though Tuscarora started off very strong, Freedom caught up, scoring five consecutive points before overtaking Tuscarora and winning the period.

During the fourth and final period, Freedom dominated Tuscarora for a majority of the period. Even though they got off to a slow start, the Tuscarora girls managed to catch up to Freedom just as it appeared that any hope of winning the period was lost.

Senior Abbi Ward recorded 25 digs in the 3-1 victory and stepped in as the libero for fellow senior Claudia Le Maitre, who was injured.

In the final plays of the game, Tuscarora scored five consecutive points, winning the period with twenty-five points while Freedom had twenty-three. In terms of periods, Tuscarora won three while Freedom won only one.

“I thought it was fantastic that everyone was able to play and that we were able to come back from such a deficit in the fourth quarter,” said head varsity coach Meghan Puckili. “The amount of teamwork that this team has is incredible.”

Junior Ivan Boyarskiy was glad that Tuscarora won saying, “The Freedom girls put up a good fight, but in the end, ours girls were better.”

The team then went on to compete in the Conference Tournament winning against Potomac Falls in November 4 and losing against Stone Bridge. They will play against Briar Woods in a must win situation on November 7.