Alden’s Girls Varsity Volleyball has been a staple of the sports community for at least the last five years. Shelby Kersten dominated the league in 2018, leading that team to their first division championship in almost 25 years. Now, four years later, Captain Jenna Kersten has followed in her sister’s foot steps.

Jenna has played absolutely phenomenally this year, leading the team in kills (93) and digs (75). She also was a solid server, accumulating 32 aces.  Senior Captain Abby Uhrich was a force all year with her passing, leading the team with 148 assists and 55 aces. Senior Jessica Horst was also vital to their success, with 52 digs and 18 aces.

The girls defeated Lackawanna last week to improve their record to 11-2. This win also clinched the division and secured their spot as the second seed in their class playoff bracket. They faced off against Allegany-Limestone on Friday, Oct. 29 at home. I went to the girls’ practice before this game to get an understanding of how they got to this point in the season and to grasp how they planned to defeat Allegany and advance to the next round of the playoffs.

When asked about the team’s struggles, Jenna talked about how they started the season with a young team, having a freshman and two sophomores to go along with only four seniors.

“We do lack the experience but over time by playing we got that experience, and now we are up to the level that we should be at,” she said, adding that being such a young and inexperienced team has increased the girls’ need for success.

For as well as the girls played this year, all good things must come to an end. The girls’ season ended on Nov. 29 in a brutal 3-2 set loss to Allegany-Limestone in the first round of sectionals. I would like to give credit to the senior girls who played their hearts out all year, and to the rest of the team who will have to carry the torch next year, hopefully leading to another successful season.