By Nyah Toomes
Staff Writer
Roaring cheers filled the gym as the girls varsity volleyball team took on Loma Linda Academy in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Quarter Finals.
The Mission Valley League Champions fought their way up to the third round of CIF, a beat unheard of in several years.
By this game, the team ranked fifth in their bracket, while Loma Linda Academy ranked first. Serving was consistent on Gabrielino’s side and the sets had numerous long rallies.
“[Gabrielino’s] middle, number 17, was running pretty fast plays. She has a big strong arm,” complemented Coach Jane Chafeh from Loma Linda Academy. “She was getting some really good kills in the deep seam, so we had to make some adjustments.”
The Eagles lost the game, 0-3.
“We did good.” said middle blocker Reagan Duguid, junior “I think we definitely could have won the game if we played at our best potential and put our hearts out there.”
Gabrielino faced off against Highland at their home gym in Palmdale for the second round of CIF. This was the first time the team has gone to the second round since 2014.
Playing Highland was a challenge for the girls because they were unsure of how the team played beforehand.
The Lady Eagles performed well on their offense. Reagan Duguid, middle blocker, managed to make 16 kills throughout the entire game.
Gabrielino won both the first set, 25-18, and the second set, 25-23. In the third set, the main obstacle the girls faced was miscommunication.
“The crowd was getting really rowdy and so was our opponent, and we let that affect us,” explained Captain Michelle Wee, senior. “We shut down and stopped communicating with each other, which led to dropped balls, missed serves, and net calls – all things that we can [usually] control.”
The girls lost the third set was 14-25, but pulled through and finished the game in the fourth set, 25-23.
“[When we won the second round of CIF] it felt like we could do anything!” exclaimed defensive specialist, Leslie Pacheco, junior.
Gabrielino played against Pacifica High School in the first round of CIF at Gabrielino’s home gym.
Pacifica had a strong serve and inconsistent but quick offense when they had the perfect set. Their weakness was their defense, which Gabrielino took advanatge of to win the game.
The lady eagles won the game by picking on their slow defense and running trick plays where they would send the ball over on the second touch.
This game was a tug-of-war between the strong offense Pacifica displayed and the strong defense our team performed with. The Eagles won, 3-2.
“The competition from our league increased, so it was more fun to play and our team had a lot of chemistry,” stated libero Samantha Young, junior.
The Eagles have won the Mission Valley League Championship for the fifth consecutive year this season.
