Varsity beach volleyball competes in league meet, qualifies for playoffs


Archer’s Beach Volleyball team competed against Marymount and Windward on April 24.

Smyth '17 helps her partner up after Gasperetti '17 dove to dig a ball. Photographer: Rachel Magnin '15
Smyth helps her partner up after Gasperetti dove to dig a ball during warmups. The team does practice sets in preparation for each match. Photographer: Rachel Magnin ’15

The team warmed up at their home court in Santa Monica, California, at the Annenberg Community Beach House. In pairs, the players competed against two different teams.

The Archer girls played their first match against Marymount High School. Archer’s first seed team, Clara Gasperetti ’17 and Sophie Smyth ’17, lost.

Archer’s second seed team, Christian Lunhow ’16 and Valentina Pianiri ’17, won their match in the third set.

The third seed, Macoy Ohlbaum ’18 and Briana Johnson ’18, lost.

The team then played their second match against Windward High School. Gasperetti and Smyth won the first seed game, and so did Lunhow and Pianiri in the second seed. Archer sophomore Annie Moore ’17 and Ohlbaum lost in the third seed.

In terms of accumulative wins and losses, the Varsity team lost to Marymount and won against Windward overall.

“We always have a lot of fun out here and I can’t wait to see the effect beach volleyball has on the Archer Varsity Indoor Volleyball program,” Gasperetti said after the match.

This is the second year the team has qualified for playoffs.

“Archer’s varsity Beach Volleyball team, with victories over Windward and Pacifica Christian, clinched third place in what many consider the toughest division in the 105 team Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League (IBVL),” Kristen Benjamin wrote in an email to the school.

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Valentina Pianiri ’17 jumps up for a midair spike. Pianiri and partner Luhnow dominated the third set against Windward. Photographer: Yasmeen Namazie ’15