Sophomore Rachel Lucie aims for an ace against the defending Oilers. Photo by Laura Le.By Suzane Jlelati & Lindsey Nguyen, Staff Writers
Fountain Valley girls’ volleyball went up against Huntington Beach in their first season match but lost by a score of 0-3.
The first set against Huntington Beach starts off slow with sophomore Phoebe Minch scoring the first point as she hits deep corner in the backrow. A slight net violation right after sent the crowd and court into confusion, but the Lady Barons shook it off as Minch scores again with a swing down line. Right after, a freeball was sent to the Oiler side that caused miscommunication and a point for the Fountain Valley girls. Points for each team were scored through touches and net violations. Seniors Mia Laura and Jenna Everson go up to successfully block the Oilers hit which left the score at 6-12. Multiple effort plays were made on the Fountain Valley side including when Laura tooled the block but the girls lost the first set 14-25.
“I think we had a slow start but that wasn’t due to poor effort and then we really just hit the ground running in the third set,” said senior Jenna Everson
In the second set, the Oilers made eight consecutive points while the Barons struggled to make one. They made their first point and an additional three points were followed up. Points then went back and forth between the teams but Huntington had a large point gap of 4-15. Sophomore Phoebe Minch made multiple spikes in the final half of the set and with help from sophomore Rachel Rucci made two aces. The set ended 10-25.
In the final set of the game, the Barons started off strong and were ahead in points for the majority of the set, with good spikes by junior Emily Yanagihara and Minch. The Oilers, just a few points behind, were kept down with strong blocks made my Everson. Seeing how the Barons could take this set, made the game tense and exciting but once Fountain Valley hit set point, it all went downhill with Huntington Beach racking point after point. Unable to secure the final set, the girls lost 24-26.
“I think my teammates played exceptionally well. They put so much effort and so much heart into this game and I’m really proud of them for that and there’s nowhere to go but up,” said Everson
