Reservoir volleyball didn't face a lot of adversity at Glenelg on Tuesday, but when it did late in the second set, the light bulb went off.
"We've been doing that," said Gators coach Jamie Bullock after her team's 25-13, 27-25, 25-19 win. "We have had our backs against the wall multiple times this season where [the opponent] got 24, and it gets figured out. How bad do you want this game? And they want it. It's been so great to have that feeling."
Glenelg got four straight kills late in the second set to take a 24-22 lead, but Reservoir senior Brooke Saunderson showed off her skill set and pushed the Gators to come back. She had a kill and a block on back-to-back points to tie the set at 24, and four points later she closed out the set with an ace.
"We're so glad to have her back. ... Her serve is electrifying," Bullock said of Saunderson, who missed all of last season with an injury. "She is also a great hustler. She loves this game and she loves to work for her team and it's just fabulous to have her back."
Saunderson, though, spent much of the match passing to senior Amaka Chukwujekwu, a 6-foot middle blocker who carried the Gators offensively. She had at least 10 kills in each of her first four matches, and against Glenelg she finished with 12 to help the Gators improve to 5-0. They are the last undefeated team in the county after Wilde Lake lost to Howard on Tuesday.
"It's been impressive. [Amaka] really has just taken the team on her back, and her and Brooke have been able to run it," Bullock said. "But we know that when we can't pass, she can't look good. So the whole teams knows we're a part of it even if she's getting the big final kill, we're all a part of it."
Chukwujekwu got things going early. She had three kills in the first 11 points of the match and, up 8-3, Reservoir won nine of the next 12 points to take a 17-6 advantage. Chukwujekwu had three more kills to help the Gators win the first set, 25-13.
The Gladiators got off to a much better start in the second set. They won six straight points early to take a 10-6 lead, which forced the Gators to call a timeout. Reservoir, however, regrouped well and tied the set at 11, and neither team led by more than two the rest of the way.
"The biggest different between the second and the first set was we got off to a better start," said Glenelg coach Jason Monjes. "I think they shell shocked us with their serving and they took us out of system really quickly. I think seeing obviously those big offensive hitters that Reservoir has kind of intimidated us a little bit, so you put yourselves too many points behind."