Cate Bounces Back with Authority, Sweeping Foothill in Three Sets

February 23, 2024

Dynamic Plays and Team Effort Propel Cate to Victory After Tough Loss – Setter Zadin Stephens and Standout Performances Lead the Charge

Henry Bouma ’25 (left) and Lucian Tann ’25 (right). Photo captured by Coach Peterson

Mack Nieman(above) & Ben Richmond total 17 kills. Photo captured by Coach Peterson

Coming off a tough loss from Tuesday, Cate settled into a groove against Foothill and flowed into a 3-set sweep. Setter Zadin Stephens ’25 was finding his hitters, engaging the middles more, and ended the match with 24 assists and adding a setter’s dump kill of his own, also notching four service aces. In set 2, the team was trailing at the outset when Dilan Lee ’24 came off the bench to cause some trouble with his serve, earning three aces and a dig to get us out of a hole and tie up the score. In Set 3, Max DeVore ’24 stepped in and immediately made an impact with three kills and three service aces to put the team into a decisive lead. Lucien Tann ’26 energized the team with a stellar performance of 6 kills and no errors out of the middle. In addition, outsides Ben Richmond ’24 and Mack Nieman ’25 made a statement with 17 kills combined and Nieman’s three stuff blocks. Along with Oliver Lee ’24, Richmond scooped up four digs a piece just behind libero Lucas Huiner ’25, who had an excellent night with several digs and steady serve-receive passing. Cate had to battle in each set against a formidable opponent, but there seemed to be this flowing sense of connection and working well together as a team that led us to the success of the evening.

Scores:
25-23
25-18
25-16

The next match is at Dunn on Tuesday, 2/27, 5:00 pm.