Sophomore Tori Van Vleck spikes the ball while captain Alexa Mathisen and junior Annya Dahmani watch.
In their second match against Cristo Rey on Oct. 3, the varsity volleyball team was able to see how much they’ve improved over the past few weeks by smashing the Saints, 25-8, 25-19, 25-8.
To top it off, according to sophomore Bella Mathisen, “it was our easiest game yet.”
The last time the Cavs played the Saints, on Sept. 9, they won 25-10, 25-17, 25-20.
Sophomore Tori Van Vleck said she could see a marked difference in their performance.
“We played much more as a team and hardly let any balls drop, which is something we had trouble with (the) last time,” Van Vleck said.
Junior Lea Gorny agreed.
“We did really well with our serving, keeping our serving aggressive and working together as a team.
“We had better passes, were more composed (and had) more kills.”
Van Vleck said the girls have been doing some warmups in practice that have proved to be very useful in games.
“We play a game where six of us go on each side, and we play it out to whoever can get to five points first.
Junior Lea Gorny hits the volleyball.
“It’s really intense and gets us moving a lot, which helps in a game,” Van Vleck said.
The only problem was during the second set, when coaches Jason Kreps and Sarah Song decided to switch the lineup.
The team is still trying to figure out how to realign themselves as their major outsider, freshman Briana Davies, is still out with a knee injury.
But thanks to the overall easiness of the game, some rarely used girls got more playing time, especially in the third set where captain Alexa Mathisen sat out.
The next game might not be as easy, though.
“We took a week off, so it may be hard to get back into it,” Gupta said.
“Valley Christian isn’t an easy team, and we are down an outside hitter (Davies).”
The next game is against league rival Valley Christian at home on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m.
—By Chardonnay Needler
