Paloma Valley volleyball team suffers first loss of season

Brad Phea of Paloma Valley goes up for the kill against Vista Murrieta. (Photo by Rick Rowley)

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Paloma Valley High boys volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season in three sets to Vista Murrieta at home Wednesday night.

The Broncos took the lead with their sixth point in the first game and held onto it for the rest of that set, winning on a kill at 25-17.

Paloma controlled the lead for the first part of the second set until Vista came back from being down 4-1 to tie it at 6. The lead stayed with Murrieta and was only as close as a two-point deficit again for the Wildcats but extended to a nine-point win at 25-16 for the Broncos.

Down 2-0, Paloma was fighting from the start of set three and started that game with an ace. But after Vista led a nine-point rally on a serving sequence, it was looking like the match would end with another one-sided win.

However, a steady climb back into the game led by several kills from Tristen Miller got them within one point at 19-18. It was a tight game all the way until the end, thanks to an ace serve that gave them a chance at another set. But the Broncos finished on top with just a two-point win at 25-23.

Paloma’s record is now 3-1 while still in non-league play. Although it was not the outcome she had hoped, head coach Natalie Beauchamp said there is one positive takeaway from the match-up.

“I think we could have put up a much better and bigger fight than we did,” Beauchamp said. “But I couldn’t have asked for a better third game there. They showed me they can come back and fight through that adversity and we could have won it. It’s just a matter of honing in on the details now.”

“It shows us we can come together and gives us a lot of motivation,” said senior Connor Castaing of their late rally. “It brings up the skill level of our team.”

Going forward, Miller said he hopes to lead his team, as a senior, to understand the level of play he sees they are capable of.

“I think we have a really good chance and I just want to show [my team] what the game should be like at a high level,” Miller said.

Miller finished with 14 kills on the night, contributing to his team’s total of 25. Sophomore Carlvin Valdez led the team in aces on the night with three of the team’s total of eight.

Beauchamp said this team is in a building year after having doubled in size since last season and with that growth comes growing pains.

“This group is the biggest example of brotherhood that I’ve seen in a while,” said Beauchamp. “We’re really excited for the future and I really think this is a program to watch out for. They could be something big.”

Castaing and Miller said they hope their season will bring their sport into the spotlight for their community.

“We love when people come to the games,” Miller said. “We want people to come and realize how fun it is and how good of a program we already have here.”

The next stop for that program is a matchup at Murrieta Valley on Thursday ,then league play starts up next week against Elsinore.

Grady Kent III (4) goes up against a Vista Murrieta defender on Wednesday. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

 Two Paloma Valley players go up for the block in Wednesday's match. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

 Mikey Peggott returns the ball as Brad Phea (7) looks on. (Photo by Rick Rowell)