By Mike Longo Jr.
With the start of Fall sports upon us, our local schools have a wide variety of offerings to wet the palette of every sports fan.
Football may be "king," however, volleyball, soccer, golf, tennis, and co-ed cross country teams have started the 2023 campaigns.
Our latest stop on the Gazette sports trail was the campus of Moon Area High School as the Lady Tigers volleyball team hosted Oakland Catholic.
Coach Emily Sullivan's crew has a host of players with valuable playing experience. Her roster totals 13 members with five seniors, six juniors and two sophomores. Leading the way are Captains Samantha Grimm and Anna Hoover, both seniors, along with Jayla Brown, a junior.
With better-than-average height on the front line, the Tigers have sights set on making a run at a winning season. The competition will be stiff and the road at times may be rocky.
Oakland Catholic always is a force to be reckoned with in any sport, always producing a quality product accustomed to winning. This night would be no different and maybe even a wake-up call to other opponents to make note of that.
The Lady Eagles steamrolled their way to a three-straight game victory against Moon. Game one was a little too close for comfort from the Eagles’ perspective, hanging on to a hard-fought 25-23 win.
Moon's never-say-die attitude in game one kept the score close with the best output of the evening a nip-and-tuck back-and-forth scoring affair. In the end, it just wasn't enough. That game may have set the tone for the rest of the evening as it was the closest of the three.
With the wind obviously out of their sails, they were run off the court in game two in a lopsided 25-13 defeat. Nothing seemed to go the Tigers’ way as Oakland Catholic scored seemingly at will.
Game three saw the Eagles stay in complete control in a game that was never in doubt en route to the 3-0 white-washing of the Tigers.
With the season still in its infancy, there is plenty of action and matches to go before the playoffs. With that in mind, Moon will pick itself up, dust itself off and forge ahead as the season progresses.
The competitiveness and resilience of this team in the face of adversity will catapult them to many deserved victories. They may even get some wins sooner than later as they play host to an upcoming weekend tournament with local teams.