Lady Conchs shutout Mariners in first meeting between crosstown in nearly 40 decades

A decade of honing skills through the Southernmost Volleyball Club has built the sport so much that for the first time in nearly 40 years, there are two high school varsity programs on the island, Key West High and in its inaugural season Basilica School, with those two squads meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Bobby Menendez Gymnasium on the KWHS campus.

Having the established program, guided by SMV head coach Kim Butler, the Lady Conchs were able to roll to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-15) victory, but the Key West coach stressed she felt Basilica was about to dictate the tempo of the match.

“It wasn’t very pretty,” said Butler. “Because of the lack of ball control, we didn’t play our best”

Without a single attacking error, Audrey Smith was able to settle in for the Lady Conchs putting away 10 kills to go along with a .667 hitting percentage, and five aces, while Cat Van Straden scored 3 kills for a .429 hitting percentage and Molly McKnight set 13 assists while adding 5 service aces. Scoring a team-high seven kills for Basilica with 15 digs and an ace was Makenzie Morris, Gloria Slavik contributed 11 assists, with 8 digs, and 5 aces, Uma Voagn picked up 13 digs and 3 kills, while Olivia Revoredo tallied 8 digs and 3 kills.

“The girls fought hard but we made too many mistakes and errors,” said Basilica athletic director Clark Cascio. “Key West was a very solid team, but we always embrace tough competition on the court. Iron sharpens iron, it’s biblical.”