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Vail Christian takes down Addenbrooke Classical Academy 3-0

Saints move to 6-0 with home victory over Mustangs

The Vail Christian student section does their best ESPN Gameday impression during Tuesday night's game against Addenbrooke Classical Academy.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

You know the big show in town is on your campus when ESPN shows up. Such was the case — well, sort of — Tuesday night at Vail Christian, as the undefeated Saints moved to 6-0 with a clean sweep of Addenbrooke Classical Academy, 25-12, 26-24, 25-22.

“It’s not often that our boys football team gets to watch us, so they wanted to do something special,” head coach Adina Petersmeyer explained of the appearance of an energetic mascot and vibrant student section — complete with two students dressed as ESPN play-by-play analysts.

The No. 9-ranked Saints responded to the heightened atmosphere by charging out of the gate early, scoring the game’s first two points before the Mustangs went on a 3-0 run themselves. With the score knotted up 5-5, Daisy Palacio subbed into the game and proceeded to make her presence known immediately.



First, she spiked the Saints back into the lead. On the next two possessions, the senior made consecutive blocks to make it 8-5. Then, another kill increased the lead to 9-5. Grace Engleby’s jump-serving 6-0 run only ended when she finally gave Addenbrooke a break by nipping the net.

“The athleticism that Daisy has to be able to adjust, to hit off the block — it’s literally her sheer athleticism that allowed her to make those points,” Petersmeyer said of the senior outside hitter’s blend of power and finesse.

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Kamryn Mitchell serves for the Saints during Tuesday’s win against Addenbrooke Classical Academy.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

Later, Maya Telles served up the first two aces of the game — in a row — to make it 17-7. From there, Payton Vermeer’s dominant play along the net helped the Saints cruise to a 25-12 win.

“We were getting our ball into system, and when our hitters are on, nobody can really defend us very easily,” Petersmeyer said of the first set success.

The second would provide much more significant drama. Addenbrooke rocketed to a 5-1 lead, putting the Saints on their heels. They finally clawed back to a 12-11 advantage, a 6-0 run extending the lead to 16-11. The Mustangs, however, wouldn’t quit, returning with a 5-0 run of their own.

With the crowd, mascot and ESPN broadcasters holding their breath, Vermeer delivered a huge kill to keep the good guys in front. The close, however, was anything but easy, as the team’s traded blows to a 22-22 tie — forcing Petersmeyer to call for time.

“I let them know that we were behind that game the entire time, so we were just looking to make one point at that point, to shift the momentum,” Petersmeyer divulged.

The Mustangs scored twice in a row, putting the Saints in a truly unfamiliar position.

Maya Telles makes a block during the first set of Tuesday’s game against Addenbrooke Classical Academy.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

Vail Christian last dropped a set on Aug. 20 against Coal Ridge. For Petersmeyer, being down 24-22 was the type of tense situation her girls will need to be prepared for league play and the playoffs.

“I think this match gave us the excitement of playing behind constantly without actually dropping a set,” said Petersmeyer.

“So I was thankful to have had that experience and still come out on top.”

Vail Christian moved to 6-0 on the year after defeating Addenbrooke Classical Academy on Tuesday night in Vail.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

Behind Logan Nobrega’s clutch serves, the Saints battled back a long volley to make it 24-23. Then, Vermeer rejected Claudia Hensley’s spike attempt to tie things up. Hensley launched another spike long on the following play, and a marathon back-and-forth final volley ended when Addenbrooke’s Autumn Farrell left a shot short and into the net.

Payton Vermeer hustles to keep a ball in play during the second set of Tuesday night’s win over Addenbrooke Classical Academy as Grace Engleby looks on.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

The Mustang’s fight only intensified in the third and final set, where they held leads of 7-4, 12-7 and 21-17 — all while preventing the Saints from even forcing a single tie. In a late timeout, Petersmeyer’s message in the huddle sounded familiar.

“I said ‘don’t give up now, you were behind the last game, just go out there and play your game,'” she recalled.

“But I also told them, ‘I don’t want anything fancy, I just want the ball on the court,’ and they took care of business.”

Engleby’s serving — she had two aces in vital sequence to tie the game at 21 — helped Vail Christian go on a 6-0 run. Middle hitter Hannah Leonard gave Vail Christian it’s first lead, bringing the crowd to its feet and deflating the impressive road resilience of Addenbrooke.

“Their defensive nature of getting balls up that we never thought would come back is what we’re going to see in the rest of our league play,” Petersmeyer praised of her opponents.

“So, for us, that was a great opportunity to know that we just have to play the point longer.”

Jessie Allen was the last to serve for the Saints, who closed things out, 25-22 when the frazzled Mustangs miscommunicated, letting the ball drop harmlessly in the middle of their zone.

“She’s only a sophomore; that girl reads a ball, dives for the ball, executes on plays — something I haven’t had for a couple of years,” Petersmeyer said of her libero, Allen.

“That all along has been what I’ve thought has been missing from our program. Because, we’ve always had an effective offense, but now we have a defense to play into our offense. So, I’m really excited to see what Jessie has done for us.”

Vail Christian hits the road for the rest of the month, including a showdown with No. 3 Meeker next Friday.

“They’ve been a force to be reckoned with for the last couple of years,” said Petersmeyer.


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