By Andrew Georgy
Silence. Feet creaking, sliding around the court, hands hovering over the net, waiting to pounce on the slightest mistake. Point after point is scored, and the score is tied up over the past couple of plays. A hit bounces off the net to give the Barons an advantage in the deciding set, yet four more pummels declare Newport victors.
The Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) (1-3) varsity volleyball team lost against Newport Harbor High School (NHHS) (3-2) Sailors this Tuesday. The Sailors dominated the Barons and won with a score of 3-1.
The Sailors’ dominance was put on full display right at the start of the match, with the Barons’ efforts met with hard-railed kills raining down upon the Barons’ side of the court. Down 3-8, Fountain Valley capitalized on multiple mistakes on the net by the Sailors, giving the Barons a small advantage. Excellent ball play from off the ground gave them another boost at 14-13.
Libero junior Arion Wang saved the ball to continue the team’s effort, but the Sailors’ solid defense met it to gain Newport a large advantage of seven points. Common fakeouts and double blocking would prove troublesome for the Barons, and the Sailors would win the first set 25-15.
The beginning of the second set did not signal a good sign for Fountain Valley, as the Barons went behind 1-5 and continued giving up points. Newport’s fakes and three spikers made the game highly rough for Fountain Valley as they were forced to fight for every point, with rounds often lasting through multiple rallies and saves being forced off of each team’s libero. Despite Wang’s amazing start to the game where three consecutive dives gave the Barons a two-point tie at 8-8, the Sailors prevented Fountain Valley from ever starting a rhythm or scoring on successive plays.
The Barons’ efforts in the second set successfully gained them a four-point lead, the largest experienced the entire game, yet the Sailors’ relentlessness kept the Barons on their toes up until the set point, where the Barons’ perseverance granted them a two-point win and further propelled their winning chances going into a third set.
The game was extremely heated with both teams trading points six plays in a row before the Barons gained the advantage after spiking the ball into Newport territory. Newport followed by whiffing the net. Junior Billy Watkins, sophomore Trevin Le and senior Byron Nguyen proved critical for the Barons, with Watkins providing consistent spikes while Le and Nguyen guarded the perimeter to put back bumps into the NHHS court.
An early celebration caused awkwardness between FVHS’ team at the start of the third set, but a missed serve and overhit spikes kept the game close. Offense from both sides over the net continued for the rest of the set.
Wang’s incredible saves paired with Nguyen’s smash-hit serves kept the Barons game close. The Sailors leading 10-13, NHHS expanded and maintained a four-point lead for the rest of the set, with their serves hitting hard into the backcourt and controlled sets to provide the strong hits which almost always found the Barons over-responding over the Sailors’ back line.
Despite Watkins’ fakes and Tran’s high bumps in the last few plays to cut Newport’s seven-point margin of 13-20, the Sailors overpowered the Barons 21-25 after another hard-fought battle. It would only take one more for Newport to win the war.
It didn’t take long for the Sailors’ striking power to shine again, as often the ball was hammered so hard into the ground that Fountain Valley never had an opportunity to respond to most of Newport Harbor’s spikes. Tran and Watkins inched the Barons closer to a comeback, seizing on missed tips from Newport’s spikers to waft the ball just over and bring the close difference to a measly 5-8 in the fourth set.
A quick protest by the opposing team’s coach halted the game before a missed Newport serve and a Fountain Valley serve that sank over the net brought the win within the Barons’ reach. Tran’s fifth kill matched with the Barons’ excellent setting abilities gave the Barons’ energy to continue contesting this highly coveted set, yet Newport’s striking decided the set 20-25.
By the game’s end, despite the Barons’ efforts in tying the game early on, Newport overwhelmed Fountain Valley with powerful kills to narrowly win the last two sets and improve their conference record.
As for the Barons, they face Huntington Beach High School for their fifth league game at home on Friday at 5:45 p.m.
