Acalanes Women’s Varsity Volleyball: Senior Dons slay the Mats at home in their final game of the season!
This past Thursday evening, October 20, not only marked the last league game of the 2022-23 volleyball season, but also Senior Night to celebrate our 9 GRADUATING VOLLEYBALL DONS! After recognizing our visiting Miramonte seniors with flowers, our seniors were presented with beautiful bouquets, then walked accompanied by family through a blue and white balloon arch, while Coach Haley shared each player’s favorite volleyball memories and plans for their future.
CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU for all that you each brought to make Acalanes Ladies Volleyball the amazing program that it is and will continue to be. You will all be dearly missed!
And speaking of the future of Acalanes Women’s Volleyball…yes, it looks very bright indeed!! I would be remiss not to mention that October 20th was also a very special night for our JV team, who beat the Mats in 3 sets to finish their UNDEFEATED SEASON!!
After an emotional goodbye to our seniors, our Dons’ fan base was ready to get down to the real business at hand: Dons vs the Mats!
Our seniors brought their winning energy onto the court to start the first set. Highlights included solid service by Paul, including 2 aces, Wang, & Korzeniowska, kills and hits led by outside Hageboeck, with help from Jones, Olin, Foster, Walton, & Paul, with great digs and saves by setter Seelenbacher, Winkles, Wang, & Paul. Adding to our defense were great blocks by Olin, Walton, Jones, Paul, & Foster. With Middle Katelyn Olin delivering the final kill, the Dons ended the set 25 -19.
Cheered on by a sizable Mats’ section in the bleachers, Miramonte came out fighting in the second set. Thanks to our reliable setters Korzeniowska & Seelenbacher, our front row continued to deliver blows across the net. Despite numerous kills led by Olin, Hageboeck, Jones, & blocks led by Paul with help from Walton & Foster, we were not able to catch the Mats, who took set #2, 19 – 25.
Our Dons came out for the third set, ready to answer the Mats. Defense was on point in the front and back rows with crazy saves by Paul, ups by Wang & Winkles, and multiple blocks by middle Katelyn Olin. Profilio helped seniors Jones, Korzeniowska, & Wang deliver on service, while Jones, Olin, Foster, Hageboeck & Walton delivered on kills. A Dons’ set wouldn’t be complete without yet another unexpected dump over the net by setter Korzeniowska, and don’t count out Georgia Winkles who delivered a solid hit from the back row! With this all out Aca effort, it was still a nail biter, up until Hanna Hageboeck delivered the final kill, ending set #3, Dons 25 – Mats 23.
With more high level of play continuing into the 4th set, neither Dons nor Mats fans would be disappointed. From the start, the Dons delivered consistent kills, led by Jones, Hageboeck, & Foster. Korzeniowska led in aces, but more great serves by Winkles, Profilio, & Paul. Defense was on, with digs by Winkles & a save by Foster. Outside Ryann Jones had the honor of laying down the final kill to close the 4th set and the victorious night for the Dons, the final score 25 -21 Dons.
BUT WAIT…DON’T GO AWAY…COULD THERE BE MORE DONS VOLLEYBALL TO WATCH NEXT WEEK?
COME SUPPORT OUR VARSITY DONS FOR THE 1st NCS GAME @ HOME, Tuesday 10/25!!
JV Girls Vball finish undefeated in league with win against Miramonte
27-1. Let me repeat that. 27-1. That is not a typo. With a win in the final game for the JV girls volleyball against Miramonte on Thursday, our Lady Dons also finished undefeated in league. This match-up wasn’t easy as our competitors from Orinda really wanted to give us our first league loss
In set one, Annie Baker had a couple of stellar kills. Milan Maycock had a nice smash from the center position to win another point. Rena Liu had a fabulous one arm save from off the court to keep a rally going. Piper Coy tried to bring the team back from losing the first set with great serves but it was to no avail as Miramonte took set one, 23-25. We would need to fight back and take the next two sets to keep the streak alive!
Set 2 Christina Hageboeck had some amazing serves to get a nice lead of 8-4. Piper had 3 well-placed kills along with Kylah Fox’s kill to increase the lead to 11-6. Fiona Roux continued her season-long serving excellence to creep the lead to 15-8. Sophia Terry had a really nice dink tip over the blockers to get us another point and keep the Mats on the floor where they belong. Acalanes took set two, 25-13 and had all the momentum heading to the 3rd set.
Set 3 Sophia again used her leaping ability and height to reach over the net and tip one down. Rena kept it going with sweet serves to take us to a 6-3 lead. Piper and Addie Ames each had massive kills to maintain the lead to 9-6. Miramonte made a run and closed the gap to 11-10. Annie crushed a kill to get the score to 12-10. Lily McKinney had an amazing serve to take us to 13-11. Acalanes was not going to be denied and took set three 15-12 along with the match. What a team, what a season. It’s been such a treat following and reporting on this remarkable team. Go Dons!
Freshman Girls Volleyball Tops Miramonte in Two Tight Sets
They say that frozen yogurt, boba tea and revenge are all dishes best served cold. The Dons kept this in mind as they came into the final game of the season with the chance to turn back the clock on their prior loss to the Matadors. The team has been busy the last couple of weeks, avenging all of their prior league losses, and seemed ready to roll as the auditorium buzzed with excitement with Senior Night only a few hours away.
Set #1: Dons win 25-22
The first set was something of a three-act play. The first act saw the heroes ascendant, with Sydney Graves getting things started with two quick service points. Ellie Blanchard blasted a strong kill from the right side and then proceeded to serve two aces, Dons up 5-1. Maya Stafford posted two service aces, Juliana Harhay served three straight points and Grace Hayes had several nice digs to keep the good times rolling, Dons up 16-8 as the first act came to a close.
The second act began with Matador #1 coming to the service line and putting on an absolute clinic. Her powerful serves seemed to barely clear the net and Dons defenders Reese Westphal and Grace did an admirable job keeping the ball in play but the Dons’ rhythm was clearly lost as they found themselves down 16-18, an eight point run for the Matadors. Coach Roman Seguerre called time and the second act thankfully came to close.
The Dons took the floor after the time-out and broke Miramonte’s serve to narrow their deficit 17-18. Sydney’s two serves knotted the score at 19-19 and the Dons seemed about to take the lead as the Matadors bumped Sydney’s third serve up into the retracted basketball hoops. The junk inhabiting the ceiling is generally a Straight of Messina for volleyballs (that’s for you Roman!) but give the Matadors credit as they patiently waited for the ball to fall to earth before sending it back over the net and winning the point, Dons down 19-20. Both sides traded points until Sela Serbiewski took her turn to serve with the Dons down 21-22. Sela shrugged off the pressure and delivered two strong serves with Juliana’s incredible block giving the Dons a 23-22 lead. Sela’s next two serves were on the money as well and Maggie Krackeler delivered the final blow with a powerful kill – Dons win 25-22.
Set #2: Dons win 25-22
It was the Matadors’ turn to serve first and they wasted no time sending #1 to the line. Her first two service points seemed like we were about to see a repeat of the first set’s carnage, but Ellie delivered a surgical strike just inside the line to put that fear to rest. The Dons played well as Veronica Flint put the ball in the corner to put the Dons up 4-3 and then it was Brooke’s turn to play sharpshooter as she placed a deep bump in the corner to tie the score 7-7. Valeria Toledo’s nice dig saved point #8 but the Dons seemed to stall out there, seeing their 8-9 deficit grow to 8-14 before Coach Roman called time.
The Dons initially responded to the break with Sydney serving for two points, including an ace, but it wasn’t long before the Dons were back down five, 11-16, after you guessed it: server #1 came to the line and delivered a quick ace. Your correspondent began scribbling the lineup on the next page of his notebook as a third set seemed inevitable, but Phoebe Gerlings was ready and her strong passing helped limit the damage to that one point as the Dons began to fight back.
Maya took her turn to serve with the Dons trailing 16-20 and promptly delivered two aces, prompting Miramonte to call time out. Maya responded to the icing with another ace, cutting the deficit to one, Dons down 19-20. Audrey Martin’s kill kept things close but the Matadors managed to extend their lead 22-20. Valeria reminded us that the Dons have sneaky bump-kills in their arsenal as hers threaded the Matador defense and cut the Dons deficit to one, 21-22, with Grace coming to the service line.
Grace took a running start to blast her first of four aces (you read that right!) as she ran the table, putting an exclamation point on a great comeback and wonderful season, Dons win 25-22.
Wrap-up: I know I speak for all the parents in extending a giant thank you to Coaches Roman Seguerre, Alan Go and Haley Walsh. It’s been a blast watching the girls develop into better players and closer friends and I for one am going to miss the games and my new volleyball friends!
Congratulations to players and coaches on a great season.
