It wasn’t always pretty; in fact, it was much more a mental battle than a physical one for the Sabers on Wednesday night. Championship caliber teams find a way to win those matches when they find themselves fighting the game, and that is exactly what the Sabers did in the NYSAIS match against Poly Prep. In a “must win” playoff a team’s strong preparation, intelligence, and continuous and consistent work ethic do pay the biggest dividends and it paved the way for Spence to advance to the NYSAIS Semifinal on Friday, October 31.

Once again, the strong play up the middle from junior Maddie F. ’16 and senior Kate A. ’15 was the key for Spence to control the tempo in the early going. After Spence won the first two games, Poly Prep did swing momentum its way in the third game before narrowly escaping a huge run by the Sabers. Strong service games from freshman Livia S. ’18, junior Philly O. ’16 and senior Natalie B. ’15 were instrumental in keeping the momentum in the favor of the Sabers. Sophomore Jenny E. ’17 came into the lineup for Spence on the right side and made key contributions immediately.

In the fourth game, the Sabers again leaned heavily on the play of their middles, but it was the team’s mental toughness that gave each player the edge in closing out the match with a win.

Next up: NYSAIS Semifinal No. 4 Spence versus No. 1 Chapin on Friday, October 31, at 5 PM at Dalton (Third Avenue and 87th Street).

The winner advances to the NYSAIS Championship match on Sunday, November 2.