By Bethany Nguyen
On Tuesday, Oct. 7, the FVHS girls’ volleyball team faced off against the Edison Chargers while decked out in pink ribbon to dedicate the “Dig Pink” game and fundraising towards breast cancer awareness. The Lady Barons set themselves up to fight hard against their opponent, but they were ultimately overwhelmed with a final score of 0-3.
The Barons started off the first set strong with a score of 4-3. Despite putting on a tough defense against the Chargers, their opponents quickly got ahead of them. The Barons advanced with solid blocks from senior captain Trisha Le, powerful kills from freshman Ila Robinson and sophomore Ava Meyers and impressive points scored by senior Kileigh Villalobos.
Throughout the set, senior Zoe Haugh kept the team’s spirits up with words of encouragement after plays against the Chargers’ strong offense. By the end of the first set, the Barons lost to the Chargers with a score of 14-25, but were more than ready to make their comeback in the next.
Sophomore Sofia Nguyen put the Barons on the board with a kill in the second set, tying the score at 1-1. After exciting rallies between the two teams, Robinson scored with yet another kill, bringing the score to 6-7 before later advancing the Barons to 9-12 with an ace.
Nearing the middle of the game, FVHS coach, Rebecca Cheltenham, swapped in senior Emily Kakita to the court. Kakita served a fierce ball before seniors Trisha Le and Malia Ramsamooj blocked a hit from the Chargers, bringing the score to 16-22. Following this play, the Barons made four consecutive points, the last point being made by Kakita with an astounding ace. The Barons fought back against the Chargers harder than before and ended the set in a close score of 20-25.
In the third set, Meyers started the Barons’ streak at a score of 3-3 with two strong kills. The Chargers countered their efforts. As the set continued, the Barons began to fall behind at 7-14 before Haugh scored. Ramsamooj and sophomore Genevieve Do worked together to block the Chargers’ hits, while junior libero Chloe Beal didn’t hesitate to dive for the ball. However, after two consecutive kills from Robinson, the Barons lost the final set 11-25.
In a brief interview following the game’s end, senior captain, Ariel Schlusemeyer, said, “I think we came out and competed with what we could, and I’m really excited for tomorrow’s Senior Night!”
The girls’ volleyball team plays their Senior Night game and final home game of the season on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 5:45 p.m.
