Two weeks before the SPC Championship Tournament, St. John’s and Kinkaid volleyball faced each other in five games, as St. John’s got the victory. It was the last conference game for the Mavericks, and with a win, a great way to prepare and psyche themselves up for the tournament.

“Last year we finished third. It was our first appearance in Division I in quite a while. Last year I was the assistant coach for varsity, so this is my first year to be the varsity coach. And I’m extremely excited,” said James Fuller, St. John’s head coach. 

With St. John’s and Kinkaid’s field hockey teams going into overtime, The Athletes Connection came late to this game’s game 1. Kinkaid led 22-20 as they scored the next two points. Not giving up, the Mavericks scored two, but Kinkaid’s Nikki Ellis hit a kill to get the win 25-22.

Game 2 started off tied at 2. The Mavericks took the next three points then scored another two. But Kinkaid came back and tied it at 7. Mason Bashaw of Kinkaid hit a kill to break the tie and take the lead. The Falcons led 11-9 until St. John’s to a commanding lead. The Mavericks won that game, 25-16, tying the match at 2.

Kinkaid started off strong in game 3, leading 7-3. But the Mavericks scored three consecutively and then the teams were tied at 9. St. John’s took a commanding lead again, winning 25-17.

But the Falcons weren’t done yet. They came out scoring first and hard. They led 4-1, then 6-1. At 12-2, St. John’s dropped one over the net to give them their third point. Kinkaid kept scoring on the Mavericks, leading by at least five the entire game. The Falcons won 25-17.

In the final game, the Falcons took the early lead, 3-0. But the Mavericks tied it at 4. The score in game 5 was never more than a three point difference. Playing only to 15, St. John’s had the lead at 12-10, then 13-11, then 14-12, until they got that fifteenth point, winning the game 15-12 and the match 3-2.

“We try to instill resilience in any situation and try to reciprocate good opponents and good kills. Defensively we made the smarter shots. It was important that they see the shots and take the shots that they needed to take. So I was proud of them for that,” said Coach Fuller.
 

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