SCARBOROUGH — Scarborough volleyball Coach Kim Stoddard knew her players would be fired up Tuesday night when they played their first countable, indoor match in nearly a year and a half.
What Stoddard wasn’t expecting was just how well the Red Storm would serve.
Long service runs from Gwen Dorsey in the first game, Shaelyn Thornton in the second and Mayne Gwyer in the third helped Scarborough coast to a straight-set victory, 25-10, 25-13, 25-10, over South Portland at Alumni Gymnasium.
“(Our serving) was actually a nice surprise,” Stoddard said. “We’ll usually get two or three in, then miss one, so to be that consistent and hit different spots and challenge the passers was great.”
Scarborough started fast, as Maddie Strouse set the tone with a pair of kills. When Dorsey added a kill, the Red Storm had a 7-1 lead. South Portland drew within 10-5 on a kill by Maria Degifico, but after the Red Storm got the next point, Dorsey stepped to the service line and didn’t leave until the score was 20-6. An ace by Brenna Humpage and two more kills from Strouse finished the first set.
In the second game, South Portland took the first two points and was tied at 6-6, 8-8 and 9-9 before the Red Storm pulled ahead to stay. The set was still close, 16-12, before a kill by Mya Jones brought Thornton to the service line where she served up seven straight points, including a pair of aces.
Thornton had a kill to start, then Gwyer stepped to the service line and served up seven straight points as Scarborough started the third set fast.
“We’ve practiced quite a bit on working on serving consistency,” Gwyer said. “I attribute it to that.”
A couple aces by Pearl Fridland-Farley cut the deficit to 9-5 and gave South Portland hope, but Scarborough pulled away behind a pair of aces by Dorsey. After a pair of kills by Grace Dittmer set up match point, the Red Riots couldn’t return the ball and the Red Storm finished off their straight-set win.
“I’m so excited to be back in the gym and I just tell by how the kids are talking on the court how happy they are too,” Stoddard said. “We came out and played like we’ve played together for months. You can tell by the girls’ energy that they’re so happy and are going to take advantage of playing while they can.”
Dorsey not only had 12 service points, she also added seven kills. Gwyer finished with 13 assists and 12 service points, including three aces. Thornton had 14 service points, including three aces. Strouse contributed six kills.
For South Portland, Degifico had a team-high four kills.
“This is our first time really playing together and I think it went well,” said Red Riots first-year coach Sarah Marckoon. “Scarborough will probably be the toughest team we see. The girls communicated very well. They worked hard on defense. Overall, they did everything we’ve worked on in practice.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
