The Skyline Eagles and Lincoln Railsplitters varsity teams lined up in number order to be called by name just before the national anthem was sung. When the anthem finished, the girls went to their positions on the court.

Sophomore Liv Baugh, senior Celia Arsen, sophomore Molly Johnson, junior Tylar Benion, junior Jen Brightmon and sophomore Ella Eliason stood on Skyline’s half of the court waiting for the game against Lincoln High School to begin while their teammates and coach sat along the sideline. Baugh stood behind the service line and served the first three serves of the set, one an ace. The teams rallied back and forth, but Skyline kept a clear lead throughout the set, not letting Lincoln ever get more than one point ahead of them. By the time it was match point, the score was 24-10. Johnson had a game winning block, bringing the score to 25-10. Baugh, Benion, Johnson and Chandra Jackson all had point-winning offensive plays.

The Eagles started the second set strong. Arsen’s kill won the first point of the game and Megan Sackman’s serves helped the team reach 12-2 before Lincoln got another chance to serve. The defensive players kept the Railsplitters’s point gain to two when they got their chance. The score was 22-9 when Johnson made a great save and sent the ball over, winning back the serve. This set was finished when Benion tipped the ball just over Lincoln’s blockers, hitting the ground before a player was able to save it.

Baugh was Skyline’s first server again. Johnson and Arsen had a block and kept Lincoln’s point count to zero, giving Baugh another opportunity to serve. Johnson, Arsen and Jackson all had kills while Sackman and Baugh kept the balls off the floor in the back row. The team fought hard and kept a good lead for the remainder of the game. Jackson had a serving run of four serves, acing the Railsplitters on match point and winning the game.

“We played as a team; we were very together in everything we did,” sophomore Ella Eliason said of the game.

Coach Deanna Day was proud of the team. “Nobody would know this is the first time running this lineup,” Day said to the team after the game.

Varsity played the last match of the night, after freshman and junior varsity beat Lincoln’s teams 2-1 and 3-0, respectively. This was the first game of the year for all three teams, giving them a strong start to the season.