On Friday, November 3rd, River Dell girls’ volleyball team traveled to Sparta to compete
in the State sectional semi-finals.

While River Dell was the fourth seed, Sparta was not only ranked first in the tournament,
but also the number one team in the state. Needless to say, the Spartans were the obvious
favorites.

The Lady Hawks took matters into their own hands that night shocking not only
themselves or the packed crowd, but the entire volleyball community by ending Sparta’s season
by winning the first and third set (25-22 and 25-21).

Head Coach Dianne Furusawa shared “I knew that playing the one seed and first ranked
team in the State that beat powerhouse IHA was going to be a difficult task but not impossible.
On any given day, any team can win. We need to handle our emotions and play one point at a
time. That student body from RD was electric and gave us the support to fight for each point.”

Winning Friday’s game advanced the girls to the sectional finals which would pit the
Hawks against long-time rivals, Demarest. Going into the finals, senior captain Erin McCabe
stated, “I knew we could win. Our team worked very hard and loved each other so much, we had
a chemistry that Demarest could never have.”

After a long, hard-fought battle the Hawks were able to secure an overtime win in the
first set 29-27. Sadly, it would be the last victorious set in many Hawks’ careers.

The second and third set the Hawks trailed by over ten points making it impossible to
mount a comeback. Senior captain Julia Ryan mentioned, “the realization set in that this would
be our last game in the third set, we started to fall behind at a fast rate which I knew there was no
coming back from.” Collectively, the girls left everything out on the court and played till the
very last point. Captain Reese Petersen felt that the girls played with their hearts and wouldn’t
have changed a single thing, even with the outcome of the match.

And with that, this emotional season came to an end. McCabe said that this season meant
everything to her, especially since it was her last. “We gave that last game our all, and though I
don’t like losing, someone has to, and I am just happy I got to experience all the ups and downs
with this team.”

After graduating almost every starter last season the girls believed they had massive
rebuilding to do; however, they surprised not only themselves, but also their school, fans, and
most importantly their coach. “This group far exceeded my expectations. We lost a lot of talent
from the 2022 team but as the season progressed, the team came together… and we grew
stronger from it.”