9/27/22 Whitmore Lake At Roeper

8^th Grade

15 – 25, 25 – 21, 8 – 15

Last night, Whitmore Lake got on the bus for a trip to Roeper.  In the first set, Whitmore Lake had trouble getting in rhythm and was lacking a little energy on the court, but was able to hang in the set, only down 10 – 14 after one complete rotation.  From there though, Whitmore Lake got stuck in a rotation and a hard hitting, top spin jump serve plagued the Trojan server receive and the Rough Riders rattled off eight straight points for a 22 – 12 lead.  Whitmore Lake finally got out of that rotation, but after two more Trojan serves Roeper finished the set with a 25 – 15 win.  In the second set, the Trojan energy returned and Whitmore Lake jumped out to a quick five point lead off the Aliyah Baker serve.  After Marilynne Dongmo finished her serve, the Trojans were on top 12 – 5.  Whitmore Lake stumbled a little and Roeper made a comeback tying the match at 19.  It was Dongmo’s serve again and she took Whitmore Lake to the penultimate point before the Rough Riders got a crucial side out for another chance.  Roeper didn’t capitalize on the opportunity, giving the ball back to Whitmore Lake for another try to close out the set, only needing one more point.  The Trojans couldn’t get it done, giving Roeper one last chance, but their ensuing serve was short and Whitmore Lake evened the match winning the second set 25 – 21.  In the third set, serving turned out to be the difference, with the Trojans missing a lot of serves, while the Rough Rider serve remained solid and Roeper finished the evening with a 15 – 8 set and match win.  Mila Proimos continues to be amazing with her tips and hits in the front row, while Hailey Valentine did a great job with her front row passing, not letting the short balls in the middle drop.  Whitmore Lake is also showing improvement with their fearlessness on serve receive, not being afraid to stand in there, taking on the opposition’s hard serves and Izzy Bishop showed her toughness as she continues her role as the ball magnet taking another ball to the head, but not being phased by it.  The Trojan record now stands at 2 – 5 (0 – 5 MIAC).  The girls will get a break from matches for the remainder of the week, but will be busy during the next two weeks with six matches over that span and four of them at home.