Date: Sept. 11
Opponent: Buckingham Charter School
Location: Vaca Pena Middle School
Final score: 3-2
First set: 20-25
Second set: 25-13
Third set: 23-25
Fourth set: 25-15
Fifth set: 15-3
Record: 3-1
Inside info from senior Lia Kaufman: We started pretty slow. A lot of us were missing our serves, and we had trouble getting good pass, set, hit (patterns).
The second set we started out stronger, and we were leading for most of the game. We had more enthusiasm, and we started to connect better as a team.
In the third set we were leading for the first half, but then we got too comfortable, and they ended up catching up and winning by only two points.
We had been struggling with our servers throughout the whole match, and in the fourth set, a lot of us went on really good service runs. After winning the fourth set, we had a lot of confidence going into the last set.
The fifth set was definitely our best. We started out really strong and kept that momentum throughout. We were connecting our passes really well and were hitting really well too.
The other team had a lot of loud fans, and I think we used their energy to our advantage to keep ourselves pumped up.
Inside info from senior Tori Van Vleck: We started off very slow and off our game, making lots of unforeseen errors like missing our serves and hitting too hard. It was unusual for us, as we are a really strong serving team.
We lacked communication, confidence and energy early on, which can really throw the game, even for a good team.
Inside info from senior Bella Mathisen: We could’ve done a lot better and not had to play five sets. We were losing simple points, but the last few sets we played normally and crushed them.
Next game: Thursday, Sept. 13, against El Dorado Adventist at 4:00 p.m. at home.
—By Jackson Crawford
