The South Windsor Girls varsity volleyball team faced Farmington on Friday, September 19, 2025 at 5 pm home and saw an unlucky loss 0-3.
To start the first set, senior outside London Bascomb and junior libero Hasnie Giritharan had 3 amazing digs to keep their team in the rally. Following these great digs, Giritharan got an ace making the score 4-4, putting up a good fight against the River Hawks.
To follow, senior middle blocker Mallory Mead got a game changing block, helping the Bobcats catch up making the score 15-16. Unfortunately, this was not enough and the girls ended the first set 19-25, putting up a good fight.
In the second set, sophomore setter Riley Haberern started off the set with an ace, giving the Bobcats hope. Then the Bobcats slowly started to lose composure, causing the score to be 8-16. However, Bascomb and senior captain outside Ioana Luangpraseuth got 3 kills and an ace each. The girls fought hard, but it was not enough leading to the score for set 2 ending 20-25.
In the third set, the girls were determined; they were thinking about different ways to compete in order to pull out a win.
“One thing I tried to do as a captain to lead the team was giving suggestions on where to put the ball and keeping the energy up,” senior captain right side Kailie Girard said during the break in between sets.
To begin, Luangpraseuth got a kill and so did Girard, making the score 7-7. Then junior middle blocker Hasini Bobba was able to go on a serving run and bring the Bobcats to the lead of 12-9. In this tug of war match, senior setter Mariam Hamadi is put into the set, hoping to change the trajectory of the match. With Hamadi in, Mead got another block, putting the girls ahead again 15-14.
With an intense 3rd set, the River Hawks started catching up, but the bobcats still put up a fight. At 18-20 Bascomb got a game changing kill to try to push the team to victory. With this high intensity fight, Bobba got 2 kills, pushing the score to 23-20. Unfortunately, this was not enough to pull out the win; the Bobcats went down 26-28.
“The team played with great effort and intensity,” assistant coach Makenzie Eppler said. “I was proud of how everyone stayed engaged, encouraged one another, and kept fighting through each rally. There were moments of really strong communication and some great plays that showed how much progress we’ve made as a team.”
Eppler is very familiar with the game, as she used to play varsity volleyball for the Bobcats when she was in high school.
In the end, the girls had a total of 26 kills, fighting until the end. Even though it came out as an unfortunate loss, the girls still showcased their talents.
“I think the most important thing we need to do in order to find success is playing together,” Giritharan commented after the game. “If we can keep our energy up and trust each other, knowing our individual roles, we can find success.”
The girls next game is Friday, September 26, 2025, away at E.O Smith. Until then the girls intend on working hard to build teamwork and fight to put up another win.
