Set 1: The Dons were visiting the Alhambra Bulldogs and things got underway with the Bulldogs opening up a 2-point lead. But the Dons came around and tied the score at 3-3. The serving game was very good and at 4-3 (Dons score listed first) Lila Schoenfield served up the first ace of the game. The scoring stayed close and at 8-6 it was Alex Ligouri’s turn to tally a service ace. She was serving a string of points and another ace came at 11-6. But the Bulldogs eventually tied the score at 16 and slowly built some separation to with the first set.
Final Score Set 1: 21-25 Bulldogs.
Set 2: In this second set, a new group of players came in to start. At 2-4 Rachel Cox delivered a kill in the middle, then went to serve and on the next point she served up an ace. At 5-5 it was Kendall Baker in the middle with a big hit, and at 7-7 Jojo Harnish pushed a long set across the court to Lisa Carrington who put it away with her first kill of the game. Three points later, at 10-7 Carrington went up on the block and stuffed the Bulldogs kill attempt. But that was about it for the Dons as the Bulldogs began a series of long point runs.
Final Score Set 2: 16-25 Bulldogs.
Set 3: The Dons were up against it now, being down two sets to none. One more loss would mean the match. But Carrington and Dani Grobeck were up to the task early, dominating at the offensive net with several big kills each. The team was playing with rhythm and confidence, serves were consistently going in, and the Dons were consistently scoring. Not with big, highlight play but with good basics that kept rallies going in which the Bulldogs’ deficiencies would be exposed. Dons scoring was in bunches and at 17-7 Josie Mueller sent an ace over, and at 19-7 Rachel Cox punished an overpass from Alhambra and sent it straight to the floor. 20-7 saw yet another ace by Julia Amaral, and then at 22-9 she got to a tough pass and put up a great set for Tyanna Roy to mash.
Final Score Set 3: 25-11 Dons
Set 4: The Dons were really playing well in this fourth set and at 2-1 Tyanna put the roof over an Alhambra kill attempt. At 6-4 Rachel Cox went up to hit a tight middle set. She could see that it was well-covered by the Bulldogs and instead decided to deftly push the ball to the side where it fell untouched for a Dons score. With the score 9-9 Tyanna sent a serve over to the Bulldogs who let it go thinking it would go out of bounds. Instead it landed in extreme back corner for another score. Lisa Carrington came up with kills at 9-9 and 13-9, the last one being on a broken play that Megan Dalziel got to and put up a great set for Carrington to kill. The Dons were showing quality volleyball play at this point, and the scoring was going their way. At 16-11 Dani Grobeck roofed up the middle kill attempt by Alhambra, then went to serve and promptly put an ace down. At 22-14 Kendall Baker showed some setting skills on a quick set to Tyanna Roy for a big kill. With Grobeck still serving she delivered yet another ace to make the score 23-14.
Final Score Set 4: 25-14 Dons
Set 5: So here it is – the fifth and final set in the 5-set format. Score goes to 15, and the winner here wins the match. It was very intense. The Bulldogs, having won the first two sets, must have been confident they would prevail in the match since the Dons would have to take three sets in a row. And the Dons had their backs up against the wall – a defeat here meant the match. First point went to the Dons on a routine play. But on the next point the front row of Carrington, Cox, and Grobeck got together on a 3-way block on a middle kill attempt by Alhambra and completely stuffed it to make the score 2-0. There was zero chance of the ball getting through the six outstretched arms of the front line. But the game was very close and the gym was loud with fans screaming for both sides’ excellent play. At 12-10 the set went to Carrington at the outside post, but it was tight and pretty far outside. She went up, contorted her body and put a great cut shot with good pace on it past the block and almost parallel to the net to hit the Bulldogs floor. The Dons crowd erupted at that point. But as loud as that cheering was, it did not compare to the cheering on this next point. The serve from the Dons was passed perfectly by the Alhambra DS to the setter. Set goes up and it was crushed by the Bulldogs outside hitter. But then Josie Mueller, who had been skillfully passing, lunged to make contact and get the ball up. It was headed toward the Acalanes bench, and as the players standing there parted Julia Amaral took a desperation dive toward the ball, uppercut with her right fist and the ball miraculously got over the net for a Dons score. Since the game only goes to 15, it was a huge point making the score 13-10. The ‘Dogs rallied for a three points tying the score at 13 and the place was rocking. On the next point, Carrington decided to repeat her cut-shot skill and sent another one to the Alhambra floor for a 14-13 score. This truly exciting set came to an end on a Bulldogs effort at a kill that went out.
Final Score Set 5: 15-13 Dons
Dons take the match 3 sets to 2.
Brian Aiello
