M-ettes smash Harlem

The Malta M-ettes showed no mercy against the Harlem Wildcats during their home opener held last Thursday. The team did drop a game to Chinook last Tuesday, September 8 and another to Poplar last Saturday.

In their win against Harlem, the M-ettes played fierce and at times seemed untouchable.

"I feel like we all had a lot of energy," Senior M-ette captain Mary Grace Kalal told the PCN. "It's our first game on our home turf and I feel like we took advantage of that."

Kalal led the team in kills with eight. Shay Garfield had ten aces, Sam Mitchell had 12 assists, Riley Mortenson had six digs and Ella Schye had one block.

The team had 30 kills and 26 aces. Six athletes on Malta's squad had aces.

"Most of its mental," Mitchell said about her approach to serving and the game itself. "I just practice a good toss and then I hit it. That's it."

Kalal uses the jump serve approach which can be deadly if used right.

"If you do it just right then the ball goes down quicker than the opponents think it will," Kalal said. "Hopefully it gets you an ace."

The team struggled against Chinook two days prior, but the M-ettes bounced back for their lone regular season win of the season.

"We kind of all just put our heads together and talked about what we needed to work on," Kalal said. "That was the mental part of it."

Those things included serving, control and ball placement. She admitted that the serve-receive needed attention as well.

One big improvement the team had was they attacked the net with confidence, not allowing Harlem to put a ball in play.

"I feel like we were a lot more aggressive," Kalal said. "We really wanted to get the W."

The fact that the game was their Homecoming game also played a major part of their aggressiveness.

The girls shared a glimpse into their Homecoming / Spirit week, which including Super-hero Day, a day where all students dressed up as their favorite hero or villain.

"I didn't wear my superman shirt because I couldn't find it but I wore the belt," Kalal said.

Kalal admitted that her pick of Superman wasn't necessarily a reflection of who she was on the volleyball court.

"I would like to (think I am Superman on the court), but I feel like I'm not strong enough for that yet," Kalal said.

Mitchell on the other hand wasn't as festive.

"I know I was just lame and dressed up for volleyball," Mitchell said. "Though that's not too lame."