SPS Keeps the Pressure on Against Austin Prep

St. Paul’s hosted Austin Prep in a rematch that had SPS earning a 5-set comeback win last season; a match many returning players described as the ‘best match of the season’. Austin Prep was clearly hoping to avenge this loss and keep their tournament hopes alive. The match started tentatively and both teams traded offensive plays with defensive balance. The first crack in the armor for either side was created by the precision serving of Georgia Cooper ’24, who commanded a 5-point rally that included two aces to give SPS a 11-04 lead. Austin Prep continued to attack but strong serve receiving from Kennedy Hinojosa ’24 and Isa Martinez ’24 prevented them from developing any offensive momentum, as Austin Prep was unable to establish any scoring runs of more than two points. As St. Paul’s continued to attack, the lead grew 17-10, than 21-13 behind the hitting of Lily Fitzpatrick ’25 and Ingrid Cassidy ’25. St. Paul’s ultimately closed out the first set 25-17. Austin Prep started the second set earning their first multi-point scoring run to take a quick 00-04 lead but St. Paul’s limited them to sideouts for another five rotations, while generating our own 6-pt run behind the serving of Kennedy Hinojosa. With a 14-11 lead and our offense on its’ most aggressive attack of the season, SPS never took the pressure off Austin Prep and closed out the second set 25-21. Austin Prep adjusted in the third set and took advantage of some positional mistakes early in the set to earn a 11-12 lead midway through the set, and a timely scoring run gave them a late 17-23 lead that we could not overcome, dropping the third set 18-25. The stage was being set for another come-from-behind five set match – this time in favor of Austin Prep. But St. Paul’s refused to bend and as both offenses attacked and exchanged blocks, the score grew but neither side could keep the lead. St. Paul’s finally got ahead 13-10 but a serving rally two rotations later brought the score back to 19-18. With the potential of losing momentum, Georgia Cooper did what she does best and decimated the Austin Prep defense with her serving to earn a 24-20 lead that SPS closed on in the following rotation to take the match 25-20. A great team effort against a strong opponent.