FAIRBORN — Fairborn’s junior varsity volleyball team demonstrated the “adapt and overcome” mentality the varsity would need in Thursday’s contest with West Carrollton.
As varsity players were announced and sportsmanship statements read, players and spectators stood and faced the flag in preparation for the National Anthem. A few seconds passed, and it became clear that technical difficulties had left the gym in bemused and awkward silence.
Then as one voice, the JV team sang out the first few notes of The Star-Spangled Banner, to which the entire gym responded, picking up the second line. The whole gym burst into singing the National Anthem with various degrees of discord, sharing in a moment of amusement and unity.
Fairborn would go on to win their varsity game with a slim 3-2 victory over the West Carrollton Pirates.
The visiting Pirates took the first set 27-25. The Skyhawks kept an initial lead of almost nine points, but West Carrollton came back to win it after tying at 24-24.
The second and third sets went to Fairborn. Junior Sam Hart performed well as the primary digger, while Chariti Taylor and Katie Knapp showed off some excellent power serves.
Fairborn suffered in the fourth set, where the powerful spikes that served them well in the second and third sets caused the ball to go long multiple times. Becca Poteet of West Carrollton acted as the anchor of the Pirates offense, setting up many of her teammates’ attacks after Heidi Anderson dug the ball out consistently.
Fairborn and West Carrollton had two sets each under their belt going into the fifth one of the night. Fairborn took the last set 15-7 with a dominating overall performance by Hani Simpson. Throughout the evening, spiker LeeAnn Williams had the most fun of all the players on the court.
Fairborn’s record now stands at 7-7, going into Tuesday’s Sept. 24 game versus Troy. West Carrollton’s record stands at 1-12 for their Sept. 24 game with Tippecanoe.
