Varsity volleyball vanquishes Forest Lake in five sets

Jacqueline Chao
Sophomore Bri Davies (right) spikes in the first set as junior Bella Mathisen focuses on the ball.

The varsity volleyball team celebrated its first victory of the year on Aug. 31 when the girls defeated Forest Lake Christian School.

The game started out rough for the girls with a 21-25 loss in the first set.

But they were able to come back in the second, winning 25-20.

The team stayed strong in the third set and beat Forest Lake, 25-23, but were unable to end the game in the fourth set and lost, 19-25.

In the final set they immediately got ahead and finished 15-10.

Forest Lake is tough competition, junior Lia Kaufman said.

“We knew it was going to be a good and tough game, and we were hoping to win, but we had no expectations,” Kaufman said.

However, senior Lea Gorny said that she was not surprised by the outcome.

Jacqueline Chao
Junior Heidi Johnson leaps to spike the ball in the second set.

“For the last four years we’ve (beat) them in the fifth set, so we were hoping the same thing would happen this year,” Gorny said.

“Luckily, it did.”

Gorny said that the Cavs played much better than they had in their first match.

“The team really communicated well and did a good job on the court, even with trying out a new setter, Lia Kaufman, for one set,” Gorny said.

This was Kaufman’s first time setting for the team, and she said that it was terrifying.

“I wasn’t confident, but once I relaxed, it was better,” Kaufman said.

“I think I did fine, but I’m glad it wasn’t a league game.”

Kaufman agreed with Gorny on their improved communication but added that the team’s intensity was an important factor in their win.  

“We had ups and downs during the sets, but when we got our intensity up, we played really well together,” Kaufman said.

Junior Bella Mathisen agreed.

“We won most of the long rallies, which boosted (our) energy,” Mathisen said.

According to Kaufman, there are still things the team needs to improve.

“When we started to lose points, we got down on ourselves, which affected our game,” Kaufman said.

“We need to keep our spirits high and our intensity high.

Jacqueline Chao
Senior Yasmin Gupta gets into spiking position before launching the ball over the net in the third set.

We also need to stop making little mistakes, like missing a serve or missing a pass.”

Gorny and Mathisen agreed that the team made a lot of avoidable errors, like serving and hitting into the net.

“I hope that next time we can clean up and minimize our errors, which I think is definitely possible for us,” Gorny said.

Their next game is Wednesday, Sept. 6, against Mira Loma High School at home at 6 p.m.

—By Anna Frankel

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