Playing volleyball all four years through high school was a big part of my life. Coming to Stockton and knowing they had a great volleyball was very exciting to me because that meant I was able to continue to watch and love the sport. On November 5, 2015 the volleyball team was having an important game at 7 PM in Big Blue. If they won this meant that the team would advance to the NJAC tournament final for the eighth consecutive time. The team they were playing was the Ramapo Roadrunner from the Ramapo College of New Jersey, which is located very close to my home.
The game started out in Stockton’s favor. The Ospreys started off the evening in fine shape as they came out to a 15-9 lead. They won the first set 25-15 Lindsey Schuele and Stephanie Kovacs had five kills each, which set up a good pace for the Ospreys.
The second and third sets of the match did not go in Stockton’s favor. To start off the second set the Ospreys held a 12-9 lead, but Ramapo used a 13-2 run to take a 22-14 lead. They ended the match with the 25-19 victory. A hitter on the Ramapo team registered 13 kills while the whole Stockton team registered just 10 kills the entire set. The third set was an intense match with many long volleys and difficult calls made by the officials. Schuele kept Stockton close with six kill in this set. The teams battled back-and-forth during the third set but the Roadrunners scored the last three points and came out on top by a slim 26-24 margin. In volleyball the set is normally played to 25 but teams have to win by two points so they had to play to 26 in this case.
The fourth and fifth set the Ospreys gathered themselves. The team took set number four with a score of 25-17. Middle hitter Idi Uffen had a great set and took charge with five kills and two blocks during the period. The fifth set is played only to 15. Stockton led 5-2 early but later fell behind 11-8. With the score tied 15-15, Shannon Clark placed a kill deep into the Ramapo corner for a one-point lead at 16-15. The Ospreys came away with the final point and the win 17-15 to advance to the NJAC championship match. In the last set, Schwartz came up huge with six of Stockton’s eight kills plus two blocks.
Going to the volleyball was a fun and exciting experience, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the sport that I played throughout high school at a higher level and watching the team battle through tough spots to come out winners together at the end.