The Yorktown High School Kitty Kat volleyball program hosted a dual match against Ganado and Nixon- Smiley on Tuesday, Aug. 13. Two matches resulting in two wins was the perfect start of the 2024 season. On the weekend, the Kitty Kats would finish 2-1 in tournament pool play, defeating Pawnee (25-6, 25-11) and Faith Academy (27-25, 2513) while falling short to Tidehaven(25-18, 15-25, 14-16).
At the home game, the Nixon-Smiley Mustangs jumped off to a lead in the first two sets but the Kitty Kats remained unfazed. With a commanding third set, Yorktown defeated the Lady Mustangs in a clean sweep of the match. During the first set, the score was tied at point 9 and remained close until point twelve.
“Our serving has been a point of emphasis in practice and it definitely showed today,” Head Coach Ashtyn Henkes said. With Palyn Koopmann and Gracie Stehling in serving positions, the Kitty Kats launched an offensive attack producing back to back runs, expanding their advantage to 17-12 and compelling NS to call their first timeout. Malayshia Thomas recorded an ace and the Kitty Kats frazzled the Lady Mustangs forcing them to commit a series of unforced errors, 20-16. The Mustangs attempted to get back into the set after missing a serve, getting called out of rotation, and receiving a foot fault call, but the Kitty Kats swiftly answered and sealed the victory with a kill by Thomas and a block by Stehling, 25-21.
