Wildcats volleyball team outlasts Rancho Christian
Mia Rosas goes up for the kill in Paloma Valley's five-set win Wednesday. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group) By Paige Mendez, Corres...
By Paige Mendez, Correspondent
In a highly anticipated match-up, the Paloma Valley High School girls volleyball team defeated visiting Rancho Christian, three sets to two, on Wednesday evening.
The teams split the first two sets. The visiting Eagles (16-6, 1-1) then took the third set, 25-21. Paloma Valley (10-2, 3-0) started the fourth set on a 6-1 run, led by Lauren Kendall, who served for four of those points.
Kendall finished with five aces on the night, second only to Hannah Welch, who had six of her own. Welch led another run for the Wildcats later in the set that gave them a 10-4 lead. Their biggest lead in that set would come just three serves later at 14-7.
The lead remained at least four points for the rest of the set, finishing with a kill from Mia Rosas for a 25-21 Wildcat win going into the fifth set.
Both teams had their share of big moments in the final set of the night, including multiple runs for each side. But Paloma gained an early advantage that kept the momentum and the lead on their side throughout the set, except one tie at 10 before another 4-0 run.
At 14-11 the Wildcats looked to end the set with their own serve but the Eagles had a kill that kept them in the game for that much longer. But the next Rancho serve turned into a side out and Paloma Valley took the final set 15-12 for a 3-2 win.
Rosas ended the night leading the team with 16 kills overall, followed by Kamryn Anderson, who tallied 10.
“I always try to do my best, and I try not to get nervous,” Rosas said. “So in that last set it felt good to do that.”
Head coach Stephen Kaas said although his team was down by nearly 10 points in the first set of the night, he knew they could turn it around.
“This group is as resilient as they come,” said Kaas. “We’ve done it before when we’ve lost the first set and come back, so I knew they could do it.”
A big help in being able to accomplish that was a team total of 71 defensive digs as well as 45 total kills with 42 assists.
Rosas said the closeness of her team is what she hopes people know about them this season.
“We do everything together,” said Rosas. “I think that’s what really helps us.”
The next match-up for the Wildcats will be a tournament game against Xavier Prep Friday at 7 p.m.
Sarah Nguyen leaps to set the ball to a teammate Wednesday night. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)
Hannah Welch bumps the volleyball for Paloma Valley. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)
