By Maggie Tifft, Contributor
This Wednesday, the Canisius softball and women’s lacrosse teams met up at the KAC to take on an inter-school volleyball game, where each team was eager to claim bragging rights. Head coaches Russell Allen and Kim Griffin decided to schedule the fun, competitive activity to build team bonding amongst their individual teams as well as grow the friendships and bonds intermixed between the two teams.
At 7 p.m., it was time to play. The softball team came ready, prepared and hungry to win. And the women’s lacrosse team? They took the term “hyped up” to a whole new level. All 31 girls walked out of their locker room with swagger… and dressed as the iconic Adam Sandler.
With both teams ready to take the court, the softball team served first. A few serves soared out of bounds for both teams, but ultimately the softball Griffs scored the first in-bound point. The women’s lacrosse team tried to rally back with some key aces by freshman Bridget Brown, but ultimately the game went to the softball team.
It was time for the next game, softball Griffs serving first again, but this time it was a different start. With the first serve going out of bounds, the women’s lacrosse team was awarded the ball. Team captain Hailey Rooney put up a massive front for the lacrosse Griffs, scoring back to back to back aces.
“After the first game, I think we got sent back a little. We were a little frazzled with the stuff they were throwing at us, but I think we’ve got a good run going for us in the second set,” says junior captain Hailey Rooney.
The second set was coming to an enticing end. Women’s lacrosse had been up the entire set, but with key hits from freshman Rebecca “Becky” Hai, the game once again ended in a softball victory. “We had a lot of communication and just a lot of fun out there,” said Hai, who earned game MVP honors.
The game was best of three, and with the softball Griffs going 2–0, the game was theirs. The efforts of both sides were nothing short of 100%. To have some more fun, the teams continued to play a few more games and really show off some hidden volleyball skills.
“It was really fun and entertaining to watch our teams play a sport they don’t play very often,” said coach Griff after her team’s incredible two-game sweep. The goals of the night were to bond within the two teams, try something new and, ultimately, to have a great time.
The success and high energy that came from this activity has sprung the coaches and players to strive for more opportunities to have inter-team scrimmages. The chance to go out and bring two teams together is what makes Canisius different and truly reinforces that family-like mentality.