This past Thursday evening, October 13, the Varsity Dons had a rematch against the Broncos, who had beaten them in 3 sets at Northgate 2 weeks ago.
Acalanes came out strong on offense, with Hageboeck, Olin, Jones, Walton, & Paul racking up countless kills, thanks to lofty sets by Korzeniowska. Jones, Korzeniowska, & Mason set the bar high on service, while Wang, Bocobo, & Profilio dominated on defense. Korzeniowska executed a setter’s dump over the net and a kill, as the first set wound to a close. The final kill delivered by oppo Apple Walton, the Dons busting the Broncos 25 – 16.
Set 2 started off with multiple kills by middle Katelyn Olin, & outside Ryann Jones; solid serves delivered by Bocobo, Korzeniowska, & Hageboeck, with deep digs led by senior Lyanne Wang, with assist from Profilio, Walton, & Bocobo. Tough play at the net with blocks by Paul, Walton, & Korzeniowska, along with a save & a hit by Mason put the Dons in a comfortable lead. A crazy run on kills by Walton, including the 25th point ended the second set 25 – 18, Dons.
The Broncos came out fighting the third set. Despite Hageboeck dropping half a dozen kills, with more kills from Olin & Paul, solid service by Profilio, Bocobo, & Mason, and blocks by Olin, Jones & Paul, Northgate took the 3rd set, 25 – 20.
Set 4 saw the Dons return to the court, newly energized and determined! Consistent serves from Profilio, Korzeniowska, Mason, Hageboeck, & Jones, serial kills by Olin, followed closely by Hageboeck, Jones, Paul, & Walton, and the on point defense of Profilio, Bocobo, Winkles, & Wang kept Acalanes in the lead from the start. This all-team effort led to the Dons winning the 4th set, 25 – 19, with Walton again delivering the final kill.
JV Girls Vball continue their league dominance with victory over Northgate
In their previous matchup against Northgate, the Lady Dons had one of the tougher games as it went 3 sets, which is unusual for them during this fantastic season. Northgate looked to have high hopes in taking down our powerhouse team and to give us our first league loss of the season. With 3 league games left, can we stay undefeated?
In set one, Piper Coy crushed a kill through the blockers to gain a point for the good side. Rena Liu continued her season-long serve mastery with multiple pinpoint jump-serves to give us some breathing room. Fiona Roux added some nice serves of her own to increase the lead. Kylah Fox nailed a kill on the line to gain a point. Milan Maycock received a quick set to put one down that was a thing of beauty. Acalanes took the first set 25-18.
Set 2 started nicely for the Dons as well with Annie Baker getting a roof block for a point. Addi Ames had a nice, well-placed dink kill that flummoxed the Northgate back line. Addi then followed that up with a massive kill showing both her touch and power. Stella Larkin had a few beautiful serves to make sure the momentum stayed on our side. A power kill by Sophia Terry seemed to take the wind out of the sails of Northgate. Nisa Khoury also had a powerful kill to give the Lady Dons a point. Set 2 went our way too, 25-21 to give us the match and keep us undefeated in league and 20-1 overall. Stay tuned for our results from the East County tournament at Pittsburg High. Go Dons!
Freshman Girls Volleyball Defeats Northgate in Three Set Win
Like a certain Harry Potter villain whose name shall not be spoken, the topic of the Dons’ prior contest with the Broncos is best avoided. But not discussed does not mean forgotten and Coach Roman and crew were looking for a little revenge this evening…
Set #1: Dons win 25-22
Northgate was first to serve and a sense of déjà vu crept into the building as their soft serve fell in between the Dons players without being touched. But who’s superstitious? Not the Dons. Sela Sarbiewski put things right, serving four (five actually, but who’s counting) straight points that put the Dons up 7-2. Northgate’s time out had the desired effect as they rallied back to narrow the Dons’ lead 7-6 but fortunately Sydney Graves’ diving save led to a Juliana Harhay kill that stopped their momentum.
Maya Stafford helped reestablish the Dons’ lead serving for points 9, 10 and 11 and set up Brooke Rardin’s kill for point 13. Maggie Krackeler may be the name not spoken by the Broncos as she served for six straight points and pounded out four powerful kills, helping grow the Dons’ lead to 16-9, prompting the Broncos to call another time out.
They should bottle whatever’s being peddled in the Bronco huddles as they came out hot, narrowing the Dons’ lead to 18-17 and then taking the lead 19-20, prompting coach Roman to call time out.
The crowd was getting restless as a set that seemed well in hand appeared to be slipping away. The Dons came out of the time out and saw their deficit grow to 19-22 before finally breaking the Broncos’ serve. Tensions were high as Ellie Blanchard came to the service line but she was unphased, rattling off four straight service points to put the Dons up 24-22 before serving the final point of the game that was put away by an emphatic Maggie kill in the back corner of the court.
Set #2: Dons lose 20-25
Sydney drew first blood on her opening serve and Ellie’s early ace helped the Dons jump out to a 5-3 lead. But the Broncos serving picked up in the second set, delivering powerful attacks that seemed to put the Dons on their heels at times as Northgate built a 10-5 lead. Grace Hayes, Phoebe Gerlings and Reese Westphal did a nice job of adjusting to those powerful serves and adeptly passed them off to the setters, helping narrow the Bronco lead to 13-15.
The score stayed close as the Dons tried to establish a comeback when Maya set up Ellie for a kill that cut the Bronco lead to 19-22 but that was as close as it got. Northgate wins 20-25.
Set #3: Dons win 15-11
The Dons found themselves quickly down 0-2 but it was Sela’s turn to be the serve-hero as she cranked out five consecutive points, including two aces, to give the Dons a 7-3 lead. Northgate called time out but their huddle magic seemed to fade as the Dons kept up the pressure with Sydney setting up Maggie for another powerful kill when action resumed, followed by two service points, including an ace, from Maya.
But like that Harry Potter villain who always seems like he’s been vanquished but somehow isn’t, the Broncos fought back, cutting the Dons’ lead to 11-9. Ellie broke their momentum with a slick lob that dropped just over the outstretched arms of the Bronco defenders at the net for point twelve. Sydney served with the Dons up 13-10 and Ellie secured the point with a powerful block at the net that saw the Dons up 14-10. The crowd and team seemed to relax a bit as Sydney served for the match and elation soon followed as Veronica Flint put it away with a nice kill.
Congratulations to the team and Coach Roman Seguerre on a great week!
Game ball: Ellie Blanchard – congratulations!
