On the night of September 19th, the Junior Varsity Volleyball team faced off against the Sarasota High School Sailors.

For those uninformed about the specifics of Volleyball, the game tasks it’s players with hitting a ball over a net to score points. Games usually last for 2 sets of 25 points, extending to an additional set of 15 points if both sides tie. Each team gets 3 touches on the ball until it is passed to the opposing team.

In North Port’s climactic game, the players prepped by serving the ball to their fellow teammates in order to warm up and prepare. The fans take their seats, and the sense of intense competition is in the air. At 6:07 PM, both teams huddled and began to plan their game strategies. At 6:08, the two teams high-fived in a show of proper conduct and sportsmanship. At 6:09 sharp, the game began to thunderous cheers and intense music. Out of the gate, North Port played hard and heavy, with Brooke Keane (#2) scoring a point by diving and serving the ball in a single fluid motion.

By 6:18, the game was neck-and-neck, with North Port scoring 12 points and Sarasota scoring 11 points. However, the momentum began to turn against North Port, with the first set ending in a victory for Sarasota with 25 points to North Port’s 22 at 6:31.

Shaken but not broken, the Bobcats began to mount a hard-fought offensive in the second set. The round was rough for North Port, at one point having half of the points of Sarasota. As the round came to a close, the Bobcats launched a last-ditch effort to secure a victory, bringing 22 points to Sarasota’s 25 by the end of the round.

Although the girls didn’t win this time, they fought hard in this game and learned valuable skills and lessons.