The varsity girls’ volleyball team wasn’t able to come out on top at the Carmichael Invitational Volleyball Tournament on Sept. 22, ending the Cavs’ four-game winning streak.
In the tournament, which featured over 50 teams from California and even Nevada, teams were split into pools of four, with all four teams playing each other.
“Based on whether we won or lost those games, we get placed somewhere in the tournament and play a whole new team,” senior Lia Kaufman said.
The girls started the tournament against West Valley High School, but they lost both sets, 17-25 and 14-25.
“In the first game, I think we were just really out of it because it was so early,” junior Emma Boersma said.
The girls then had a break before going onto their second game against Wheatland Union High School. However, they once again lost both sets of their second game by an even larger margin, 7-25 and 13-25.
“The first two games were definitely a bit rough,” senior Heidi Johnson said. “But I think the frustration helped us push back.”
With new-found enthusiasm, the Cavs went on to play their last starting pool game against Encina Preparatory High School.
“We had watched the team play beforehand and saw their skill level, so we knew that we could beat them,” Johnson said.
“I think that gave us some confidence after our losses.”
And their high spirits paid off, with the Cavs winning both sets, 25-12 and 25-16.
This win secured them third place in the pool, putting them into a secondary bracket against Virginia High School.
The girls lost the first set, 16-25, against Virginia High but put up a fight and won the second set by three points, 25-22.
“In the last game, we were all on fire,” Boersma said. “It was like we finally clicked as a team.”
But even with their best performance of the day, their second-set win wasn’t enough to win the game. After losing the third set, 14-16, the tournament was over for the girls.
“Virginia City: What a great game,” Kreps said. “They were a very well rounded team.
“We played some great defense, served well, but came up short.”
But even though the team wasn’t able to prevail at the end of the tournament, Kreps said he believes the tournament helped the team overall.
“I hope the girls can use this experience and court time in our league play,” Kreps said.
“We have two solid days of practice ahead and then Homecoming on Friday, (Sept. 28), which we all are really excited for.”
The Cavs’ next game was against Cristo Rey High School on Monday, Sept. 24, at the St. Francis Armory.
