By Ainsley Lambert (Sports)

With every spike and serve, the Springfield High School girls volleyball team took over Washington Street. City Tournament is not your everyday game– it leaves people on the edge of their seats waiting for the ball to get slammed down. The Springfield High School volleyball team won the City championship game on Thursday, Sept. 26. The game, played at Southeast’s gymnasium, showcased the Senators against the Lanphier Lions with a win of set one 25-9 and set two 25-11. They then took on the Southeast Spartans with a win of 25-15 and 25-17.  

During Thursday’s game, the Senators fought until the ball dropped with a whopping 32-30 match for set one. The atmosphere was incredible with the SHS student section going against SHG’s. Winning set one gave the Senators a confidence boost from last year’s two set loss to Griffin. Set two was back-and-forth with SHG having multiple sideouts and getting the ball back but it was not enough to shut down the Senators. SHS won set two 25-18 and took home the trophy.

The Lady Senators season is booming with an overall record of 17-4 and a conference record of 5-2. They fell short with the hard fought conference game against U-High and Chatham during the Lu-Hi tournament. Winning the championship game over Sacred Heart Griffin added to the team’s five-game winning streak. 

Winning this game meant a lot to the seniors Jocelyn Anderson, Rachel Becker, Zoe Luhta, Claire Mazrim, Meara Seelbach, Mattie Tierney and Franny VonDeBur. This was their last chance to take home the trophy and they did just that. The Lady Senators have not won a City championship since 2022, so this is a big breakthrough moment for the team moving forward. A shout out to Becker for leading the team with six kills, four digs and three blocks during the championship game. One of the senior captains, Mazrim, described the championship game as “intense, exciting, emotional and loud.” She then expressed how much this game meant to her “because I know this is the year we should have won it. Everyone who played put their hearts on the court and everyone who didn’t did their best to keep the energy up. I think it was so well deserved and it means so much more especially because it’s my senior year and we get to go out with a City win.” 

The Senators next game at home is against Tri-City on Oct. 6. Senior Night is Oct. 21 versus Chatham High School for a rematch. Be sure to stay alert on the Lady Senators season and support them by showing up and cheering loud!

Courtesy of Milan Robinson