This Monday, Oct. 7, the Mercer Island Girls Volleyball team rallied for a victory against the Newport Knights. The team won all three sets and extended their win streak to an impressive total of four games.

Going into the game, the team set their sights on working together as a team to achieve a win.

“We went in with a lot of different expectations since we’d never played Newport before, but I think we played really well as a team and we finished them in three sets, so that shows how much we were able to push till the end,” standout player Aikum Bains said.

Although Newport gained a quick lead, constant cheering from MI on and off the court made it feel like their victory from the get-go. Between frequent high fives and shouts of encouragement and an array of stunning serves, spikes and saves, the team began to hit their stride about ten minutes into the game. As the team maintained momentum, the monotonous announcement of “point for Mercer Island!” became an almost constant marker of their success.

The Islanders won their first set 25-16, their exuberance making up for the lack of enthusiasm of a crowd mostly clad in the yellow and red hues of the Newport Knights. In fact, their cheerleaders alone showed more spirit than the whole audience put together, but the MI team kept their heads high and the ball higher.

The second and third sets were slow-moving with points alternating between both teams. Newport consistently trailed only a single point behind. Scores continued to get higher, but Mercer Island didn’t falter in any aspect.

The team moved like a well-oiled machine, their quality communication and organization allowing them to pull away and take the win on the second set and again 25-22 on the last set.

“We gotta work on just being super consistent, especially on serve and serve-receive. That was a bigger weakness at the beginning, but we’re definitely getting better all together, so just working on that and staying hype and connected and communicating even when the competition may not be as good,” observed Bains, when asked about where the team could improve in the future.

She credits the outstanding effort of the whole team to their sweeping win and continues, “We just needed to stay focused and recognize that the game wasn’t over yet, and so trying our hardest and pushing to finish it.” While this humble comment doesn’t entirely encompass Newport’s devastating loss in their own court, it exemplifies the confident yet hard-working attitude of the MI team.

Come watch MI Girls Volleyball’s next game today, Oct. 9 at Issaquah High School!