After an arduous battle against Chanhassen for the second time in its season, girls’ volleyball beat Chanhassen 3-1 following a grueling 39-41 third set.

After a close 3-2 win last time Park played Chanhassen, senior Olivia Lainsbury said she was anxious going into this match.

“I was pretty nervous going in because… it was a really tough battle in our last match, but I was also really confident because we wanted to beat them so bad,” Lainsbury said. “After the first set, I felt like we had it; we were playing so much better than them. We were just more ready.”

Senior captain Hannah Howell said it was disappointing to lose that third set but is proud of the team for their ability to keep moving and win the fourth set to win the match.

“I’m really proud of how we bounced back,” Howell said. “It really did feel like the same set as last time because that third set was so long. We had 25 unforced errors in the third set, and that definitely contributed to (it being so long), but as soon as we cleaned that up, it was an easy win.”

According to senior Cailee Byrd, something that allowed the team to bounce back and win the match after the third set was the energy emanating from the opposing team’s student section.

“We were definitely excited to have a student section for once this season, and we used (the energy) to our advantage,” Byrd said.

Lainsbury said the other team’s cheer sections helped them get more motivation to beat their opponents.

“They think that by yelling they’re going to make us mess up, but honestly, it just empowers us more,” Lainsbury said.

According to Byrd, the team intends to work hard and focus on a more defensive strategy in preparation for their next game against Saint Michael–Albertville.

“We are definitely going to go hard in practice tomorrow; a lot of defense stuff, a lot of blocking. Every one of our hitters is insanely good, so we’ll just get them going too,” Byrd said.

The next girls’ volleyball game is at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 against Saint Michael–Albertville at home.