This past Friday, October 27th, the home bleachers were packed as River Dell girls’ volleyball team swept Vernon to advance to the second round of the State tournament. River Dell won in straight sets 25-12 and 25-11.
The leading stat scorers for River Dell were #15, senior Erin McCabe, with seven kills (points made off a hit) and two blocks, and junior setter Addison Viscardi with twenty-one assists. “None of this would be possible without my team, they set me up for success by their encouragement and good passes” stated Erin McCabe.
The Vernon Viking’s were ranked thirteenth while the Hawks are placed at fourth in the state tournament. Being the higher seed allowed River Dell to receive home court advantage, “Today students came to watch our game which rarely happened all season. Having their support and encouragement pushed us to perform better when playing”, explained captain Julia Ryan.
Two weeks before the game things didn’t look so fortuitous for the Lady Hawks. The team faced multiple injuries, including captain Reese Peterson who tore two ligaments in her foot, but with the week and a half long break between the end of the regular season and the start of states, the girls had time to recover and prepare. “Although I was not able to play in my senior night and took it easy in the earlier practices, I’m happy I am back to 100%, and get to play in these games with my team.” Peterson shared.
Coach Dianne Furusawa, who’s been a part of the program for twenty-seven years, was confident her team could walk away a win and advance to the second round. In the days leading up to the match, the girls practiced every level of play: defense, offense, and even teamwork/communication. “They had balls spiked at them by our ball machine to work on their passing. They also practiced drills that required loud yelling to increase communication and team-playing on the court”, Coach Fu mentions.
The biggest struggle this team has when playing is their serving and passing on serves. Fu shared, “A point always starts with a serve or a pass, without either of those things we cannot maximize our offense to their fullest potential. When they’re… in-system they’re unstoppable.”
All their practice paid off. “Usually when we go up against teams we play down to their level, which makes it anyone’s game. Today, we played at our level and did not sink down. We played a much cleaner game than we have in the past”, captain Erin McCabe adds.
As River Dell’s most successful sport currently, the Lady Hawks will move onto the second round of the state tournament playing Pascack Hills home, at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, November 1st.
