Acalanes Volleyball knocks out the Knights

Acalanes Ladies Varsity Volleyball: Dons knocked out the Knights!

Last Thursday evening 9/29, the Dons hosted the Las Lomas Knights at Acalanes.

A couple fun facts about this match up: Coach Haley is an alumni of our competitor, Las Lomas…AND, 9/29/22 marked Haley’s 25th Birthday! The Dons did their best to make it a happy one from the start of the first set…

Highlights included blocks by Olin, Jones, Mason & Paul, phenomenal hitting led by Olin & Walton, with help from Mason, Jones, & Hageboeck, deep digs on defense by Wang, Bocobo, & a save by Mason, wrapping up the first set for Coach Haley, 25 – 15.

Set 2 started off with a blistering service run by Korzeniowska, who also set pin hitters Mason, Walton, & Hageboeck for multiple kills against the Knights. More dominance on service by Hageboeck & Profilio, both delivering multiple aces, ups by Bocobo & Wang, more hits and blocks from Olin, Paul, Hageboeck, & Jones, as well as saves & a strategic set over the net by Korzeniowska bought the second birthday set, Acalanes 25 – Knights 16.

The third set started off well for the Dons, with strong serves by Mason, Profilio, & Seelenbacher, saves by Korzeniowska, Seelenbacher, Bocobo, & Paul, & deep digs by Profilio, Winkles, & Bocobo. Despite multiple kills by Dikova, Olin, Mason, Jones, & Walton, and yet another “Jedi mind-set” over the net by Korzeniowska, the scrappy Knights turned it around and took set #3, 26 – 24

The Dons came out fighting for the 4th set starting with a run on serve by Korzeniowska, and kills by Hageboeck, Olin, Mason, Jones, & Walton. Strong defense included deep digs by Wang, blocks by Olin & Paul, and multiple saves by Korzeniowska. More excellent service from Olin & Korzeniowska, each adding to the ace count. Strong sets by Korzeniowska & Seelenbacher, and more decisive blocks by Olin, including the final point of the game, put the finishing touches on Coach Haley’s birthday win against Las Lomas!

JV Girls Volleyball crush Las Lomas on Thursday night

The Lady Dons JV Volleyball had it all working. It didn’t really matter what the Knights tried on the offensive or defensive side of the net as every aspect of our game was on full display. We got up early in the first set 10-4 with Kylah Fox having a great save to win a point. Annie Baker had two massive kills to increase our lead. Addy Treter had a couple of nice short dinks just over the net to escape the diving hands of Las Lomas to win additional points. The real story of the first set was the serving of Piper Coy. She served over 15 times in a row at one point with a flurry of jump and floating serves that seemed to flummox the Knights over and over again. The Dons went on to win the first set 25-8.

Looking to win the second set to increase our perfect league record to 4-0, our Lady Dons again got out to another insurmountable lead. Stella Larkin had a couple of sweet serves to help increase the lead. Addi Ames had a crushing kill to take another point. Sophia Terry had a nice dink over the blockers to win a point for us. Campbell Evans continued the theme of fabulous serves with multiple aces. Annie continued her great play from the first set with additional kills to make sure there would be no comeback from the Knights. We would go on to win set #2, 25-10 and take the match. Go Dons!

Freshman Girls Volleyball Defeats Las Lomas in a Three Set Thriller

Some folks like to chew on the question, “If a tree falls in the forest but there’s no one there to hear it, did it make a noise?” The tree-people would say “no”. I’m not so sure but it got your correspondent thinking about how he missed the Northgate game on Tuesday night (which by all accounts was a rough one) so perhaps by extension it’s fair to ponder, “If a team has a bad game but there’s no one there to report on it, did it really happen?” I’m going to go with the tree people on this one…

So clean slate, new night, game on!

Set #1: Dons win 25-20

Neither side looked particularly sharp in the early minutes of the set as each team had its share of missed opportunities. The score went back and forth with the Dons down by two or three points for much of the first half until Phoebe Gerlings set-up Ellie Blanchard for a powerful kill to narrow the Knight’s lead 12-10. Sela Sarbiewski’s two service points led to a 14-14 tie and the Dons started to come alive. Maya Stafford served to break the tie on what proved to be a barn-burner point with Brooke Rardin hitting a powerful strike to put the Dons up 15-14. Maggie Krackler served up the 16^th and 17^th points and provided turn-key service by providing the kills for each, prompting the Las Lomas coach to call time out.

The Knights battled back to take an 18-17 lead but Juliana Harhay’s awesome strike at the net tied things up 18-18. The seesaw battle continued with the score tied 19-19, then, with the Dons up 20-19, Sydney Graves served up the Dons’ first ace of the evening to widen the lead to 21-19. After a bit more back and forth Ellie came to the service line and decided she wanted in on that ace-action, providing three of her own to close out the set 25-20.

Set #2: Dons lose 22-25

This set was very much a tale of momentum. The Dons drew first blood with Sydney setting up Sela for a big kill and Reese Westphal providing inspired passing from the Libero position, her first timing playing there this season (editor’s note: we miss you Grace, feel better!). Brooke’s ace put the Dons up 9-6 and it looked like they might pull away as they widened the score to 17-9 behind strong net play from Valeria Toledo and five straight service points from Ellie. Las Lomas High School apparently isn’t called the Knights for nothing as they played valiantly and battled back to narrow the score 17-13. Audrey Martin had other plans as her strong strike put the Dons up 18-13 and Veronica Flint’s kill kept things rolling with the Dons up 19-14. It seemed like this one was in the bag but before the crowd knew it the score was tied 19-19. Phoebe’s kill broke the tie and Emma Brewer provided a nice set to Ellie who put the Dons up 21-19 and again, it seemed like the Dons were ready to put this one away. The Knight’s service game got stronger as the set progressed and they managed to tie the score 22-22 before ultimately prevailing 25-22, forcing a third set.

Set #3: Dons win 18-16

Sydney got the Dons on the board with a slick set-dump for the first point of the set, but the Dons were quickly down 1-3. Maggie’s strong strike narrowed the deficit to 3-4, followed up by her two service aces that put the Dons up 6-5, prompting the Knight’s coach to call time out. Maggie was not to be iced as she served up two more service points including another ace to put the Dons up 8-5.

Maya’s slick setter-dump and Phoebe and Veronica’s kills helped put the Dons up 11-7 and, believe it or not, it seemed like the Dons were ready to put this one away. The reader might think your correspondent and the Don’s fans generally to be slow learners, or perhaps cockeyed optimists, and you might be right as the Knights did not fade away, battling back to narrow the Dons’ lead to 13-12, prompting Dons’ Coach Roman Seguerre to call time out.

Play resumed with the Knights serving and it seemed like a bad omen as their first serve hit the top of the net and dropped straight to the floor on the Dons’ side, tying the score 13-13 which grew to a 13-14 lead. The Dons hung tough as the Knights served for the match, tying the score 14-14 and having a match-point of their own as Ellie’s strong serve put them up 15-14. But you guessed it, the Knights tied the score 15-15, went up 15-16 and were again serving with the match on the line. Did the Dons wilt under the pressure? THEY. DID. NOT. A great dive-save from Reese kept things going and the Dons managed to tie the game at 16-16. The student fans were going crazy at this point and the Knights had their own impressive cheering section that really added to the fun with the tension mounting as the game grinded on. Maya came to the service line with the score tied 16-16 and Maggie’s slick kill put the Dons up 17-16 and provided yet another match-point opportunity. Maya’s nerves held as she served for an ace to seal the win 18-16.

Congratulations to all the players and coaches on a hard-fought win, it was fun to watch everyone contribute in a great bounce-back game.

Game ball: Reese Westphal – congrats and great job out there today!