By Zander Sherry
On Tuesday, Sept. 27, the girls’ varsity volleyball team went up against the Laguna Beach Breakers in a non-league game, and ended up with a 0-3 loss. Setting their overall season record to 6-15, the game was defined by a rough first set, and two later sets in which the Lady Barons adapted and made a small comeback, closing in on the score difference.
Key players were junior Joycemary Dang, who gave great digs and ups on top of serving several aces, and senior middle blocker London Braithwaite, whose blocks helped the Barons score in the second and third sets.
In their first set, the team fell short, and could not overcome Laguna Beach’s strong offense. The Breakers scored the first four points on failed digs from the Barons. FVHS made their first point on a long serve, and made substitutions after the score reached 1-6.
With some errors and miscommunication on the Barons’ side along with great attacks from the Breakers, the score reached 4-17.
Near the middle of the set, the Barons put up some good points after an ace by junior Kalista Nguyen. However, they could only muster five more points, and the first set ended with a score of 9-25.
“We needed to start the match stronger with some more fire,” senior hitter Judy Jahala said.
In the second set, the Lady Barons made greater efforts with more consistency. At the start, the team could not receive four serves, but a great block by Braithwaite started the Barons’ climb towards an even score. Followed by a block attack on the next play, an ace by Dang and two consecutive strong attacks by Jahala, the Barons reached 4-9.
Dang served well for the Barons during the second set, putting up many aces, and continued this into a score of 11-16.
Thanks to more good sets from sophomore setter Dezi-Jae Butler, and strong attacks from Jahala and the rest of the team, the Barons ultimately improved on their score with the Breakers as the set ended with 18-25.
“After the first set, I really hoped that we would improve and get better [during] the next two,” Dang said.
Head coach Rebecca Cheltenham highlighted Dang’s performance in multiple areas during the later sets, something that led to many points for the Barons.
“[Dang] stepped up, being aggressive at hitting, taking care of passing on defense and serve receive and her serves [also] helped us a lot,” Cheltenham said.
The playing field started to even out in the last set, setting the score equal for the first time in the game with an ace by Dang at a score of 3-3.
Further into the set, although with consistent attacks and kills from Jahala, and Braithwaite offering a deep dig, after a long rally, Laguna ultimately ended up with the point, making it 6-8.
More blocks from Braithwaite and Butler allowed the Lady Barons to keep up with Laguna Beach’s still persistent offense, and the score was set even multiple times. They finally took the lead with an attack by sophomore middle hitter Maylynn Pham, as they cheered for a score 14-13.
As FVHS kept its spirits up, more side-outs by the Breakers and failed digs by the Barons launched the score to a 22-24, as the Breakers took the lead again, needing only one more point to win the game and improve their overall season record.
After a short break, the Barons hoped for a comeback, needing only four more points to take this set, but fell short to a swift attack from a Breaker hitter. The set ended 22-25.
With a loss of 0-3, The Barons nevertheless commend the improvements they made with each set.
“We came out, we battled, we played together,” Cheltenham said. “Especially going into the second and third set when we started to believe in ourselves.”
The girls’ varsity team next plays on Thursday, Sept. 29, at an away game against Newport Harbor High School at 6 p.m.
