After having to play their first four games of the season on the road, the Lady Knights played their first two home games Monday and Tuesday night. The Knights went 2-0 against Santa Cruz Valley and Gilbert Christian, not losing a single set.

Monday

The product on the court was fairly bland on Monday night, with ACP winning 25-13, 25-13, 25-4 in three noncompetitive sets. Lucy Hoffman led the team in the hitting department with an impressive 10 kills out of 21 attempts. In the final game of the night, Kennedy Orr put up an outstanding run of double digit serves to lead the team to their best margin of victory of the season.

Despite the impressive outcome, the Knights didn’t look as sharp as they normally do. About the win, Coach Orr said “our game plan was to play our best volleyball, and that was by no means our best volleyball. We had too many missed serves, not enough communication… yes, it’s a W, but it was not our best effort by any stretch of the imagination.” She looked for the team to bring more energy and intensity on Tuesday’s game against Gilbert Christian.

The highlight of the night was the first senior night of the year, Madi Bonfigt night. If you know anything about Madi at all, you will not be surprised to hear that the crowd donned tie-dye and waved large cutouts of Madi’s face to celebrate her. Madi had a few nice hits to score points throughout the match, which elicited excited cheers from the crowd of about 75 students. “Madi night was the best night of my life” said Meg Colihan, one of Madi’s closest friends. “I love Madi to death, and she was so extra by making us all giant pictures of her face, so I was able to wave her face around all night.”

Tuesday

ACP’s performance on Tuesday was stunning compared to Monday. The girls played with energy all night and crushed a solid Gilbert Christian team.

In game 1, ACP came out swinging with powerful hits throughout the set. The chemistry between setter Julia Golichowski and her middle hitters Krista Rowan and Tendall Weigand was especially noticeable. Their timing was perfect and led to several kills. The Knights capped off game 1 with an ace from Krista to win 25-13.

ACP’s momentum carried on into game number 2, with the Knights getting out to a 16-4 lead to start the set. The back row play was what stood out in this game, especially from Daria Sukhareva. Even the most powerful hits from Gilbert Christian were passed directly to the setter. Three of the final five ACP points were aces, and the Knights would win 25-10.

The final set was the most competitive, and was where the team shined brightest. Gilbert Christian played scrappy, returning a lot of ACP’s hits. However, the Knights were relentless, and kept hitting, hitting, and hitting until they finally got the kill. The game started close, with ACP up 6-5 early. Featured senior of the night, Lucy Hoffman, led the team to victory in game 3, and ended up with double digit kills for the second night in a row. ACP wrapped up the night with a 25-16 victory.

You could feel the positive energy in the gym on Tuesday night. The fans were loud, the players were smiling, and the normally reserved Coach Orr rose to her feet a couple dozen times to applaud her girls. “I feel like it was a totally different team tonight” said Coach Orr when asked about how tonight’s performance compared to Monday night’s. “They came out tonight with intensity, they missed way fewer serves, the passing was more accurate, our attack was more consistent. It was a very different team than we had last night.”

Coach Orr was especially impressed with setter Julia Golichowski’s performance. “She’s such a pivotal player. When she turns her play around, it reflects on the rest of the team.”

The Knights are now 6-0 in regular season play, and look to pick up their seventh win on Thursday at Arete Prep. ACP will be back at home next Monday when they take on San Tan Foothills and celebrate Megan Tonkinson night. Be in the gym at 5 o’ clock for JV, 6 o’ clock for Varsity, and watch the Knights continue their strong play.