Maryville Scots capture victory in last volleyball home game against Sewanee Tigers
The 2024 volleyball season has been successful for the Scots, especially in their home games. This season brought the Scots victory in 21 of their games, giving them an overall winning record of 21-11. Their home record of 8-4 includes wins in seven of the final eight matches.
“We’ve been great at home,” said Head Coach Brienna Laskowski.
The final home game of the season was a five-set battle against the Sewanee Tigers, with the Scots fighting hard and coming out on top. Knuckles were clenched as the fifth set started, and the scores reflected the tensions between teams.
The Scots climbed to a 6-1 lead before the Tigers turned up the game play. With the score at 8-7, Maryville fought to keep its lead through the rest of the set.
The score was 12-10 after a kill by Kenzie Brewster (‘25), followed by the Tigers taking one point, and a kill by Cailin Mastropasqua (‘26) to set the score at 13-11. The final kill of the game by Landry Frisch (‘25) gave the Scots victory in their final home contest.
“That one was a little bit harder than what it needed to be, but I’m just happy for a win right now,” Laskowski said after the game.
“I’m just glad they could all work together and row in the same direction–we talk about [playing as a team] all the time. Sometimes when we don’t have a hot hand it just takes everyone playing good enough, and tonight was good enough.”
his season also brings a milestone accomplishment for sophomore setter Dakota Vaiese who has reached 1,000 career assists, an impressive accomplishment for only two seasons.
Vaiese said she is grateful for this. However, she gives credit to her teammates for pushing her to succeed.
“The season has gone really well,” Vaiese said. “We are a better team than we were last year, and we’ve really learned to live in the moment and just enjoy playing with one another.”
“It’s been kind of a whirlwind but it’s been a fun season,” Laskowski said. “We’ve got great senior leadership, we’ve had some people really step up into big roles. We’ve got a freshman setter, a freshmen libero, and they are playing like upperclassmen, so it’s been nice to have a smooth transition in those positions.”
One of the major influences on the team dynamics this year, as Laskowski mentioned, is the senior leadership–with five seniors compared to zero last season.
“Everyone has tapped into the idea that we just need to take risks and have fun when we play,” Vaiese said. “We are truly a family, and the excitement we have when playing together is what allows us to be so successful.”
Vaiese also acknowledged the closeness of the team even though they lost some players and gained six new freshmen this year.
“We have actually grown really close as a team and everyone has a part to play in that,” Vaiese said. “I am proud of the growth we have seen from our team last year to the team we are this year.
“But, I’m not ready for it to be over. I am going to miss our seniors because they have poured so much of their time and energy into leading our team this season and it will be tough without them.”
While the energy of the season is winding down–with only tournament games remaining–the energy on the court stays high. The team has fun together, and hopefully this attitude and gameplay will continue into their next season.