Last Saturday the Acalanes Girls Volleyball team traveled to Sonoma Valley High School for a one day tourney with 20 teams. The day began with a flag and commemorative ceremony with a large contingent of first responders in attendance to honor 9/11/
In the first game against the host Sonoma Valley High School, junior Katelyn Olin killed an overpass to get the Dons on the scoreboard. Junior Hanna Hageboeck’s well placed tip to the corner and kill gave the Dons a 4-2 lead. Olin then went on a service run featuring two aces and a back row kill from senior Emma Johnson gave the Dons a 9-2 lead.
Sophomore Monica Dikova’s ace put the Dons up 11-3. Hageboeck started her own service run that included kills from senior Aly Kirke and Johnson and an ace. Junior Georgia Winkles served an ace. Kills from senior Isabela Yanakieva and Johnson capped off the scoring as the Dons ran away with a 25-11 win.
Game 2 was much closer. Kills from Johnson, Hageboeck and junior Ryann Jones gave the Dons a 3-2 lead and an ace from Dikova made it 6-3. Senior Gianna Manzone’s tip put the Dons up 8-5. With the Dons trailing 13-15, Dikova delivered three consecutive aces to put the Dons up by one. The game was tight the rest of the way. An ace by Winkles gave the Dons a 19-17 lead. Jones’ kill finished off SVHS for a 25-22 win and the match.
In the second match of the day against Deer Valley, sophomore Jade Profilio notched consecutive aces to put the Dons up 4-3. With the Dons trailing 4-8, Winkles received the serve and passed to senior Rachel Zhang who set Olin for the kill to make it 5-8, and a Kirke kill brought the Dons closer. A Deer Valley run created a 10-14 deficit and forced a Dons timeout. Kirke then killed an overpass to start the comeback and kills from Manzone and Olin brought the Dons closer. Kills from Kirke, Manzone ans Hageboeck gave the Dons the lead and Johnson’s kill finished off Deer Valley 25-20.
In the second game, Profilio registered three aces in a row then when her serve finally was returned passed to Zhang who set Olin for the kill. After three kills by Jones and two blocks from Kirke the Dons were up 10-3. Deer Valley hung in there but an ace from Hageboeck gave the Dons a 13-7 lead. Olin continued the Dons’ domination at the net with a block for a point. Senior Kira Wood received a serve by passing to Dikova who set Olin for the kill, making it 16-11. After Deer Valley clawed back to within a point, Olin’s tip made it 17-15. Profilio then served three aces and the Dons went onto a 25-17 victory.
The Dons lost their next two matches to perennial powerhouse Carondolet and University High in San Francisco. Highlights from those two games included kills from junior Maya Paul and another service run from Profilio.
League play starts next week when the Dons host Las Lomas on Tuesday, September 21.