After a Thursday night two-set win over Northgate, the JV Dons hosted seven teams for the annual Acalanes JV Invitational Tournament on Saturday.
Head Royce:
Oakland’s Head Royce was the warm-up act. Up 17-5 in the first set, parents’ attention wandered to the mystery of one dad’s missing bleacher seat. Was it swiped by an opposing player? Even worse, did someone break the unspoken “parent code” and borrow the seat? While sleuthing went nowhere, the team cruised to a two-set win.
Miramonte:
Next up, Miramonte. The Dons again jumped out fast, winning set one behind Quinn-Tessential Frontiera’s left arm and strong serving from the squad. Set 2 looked like a repeat after freshman phenom setter Kaia “Kai-Fi” Copen (because she’s always connecting with her hitters) opened with four aces for a 17-9 lead. But as further proof that social media is melting attention spans, the Dons drifted to thoughts of the snack tent, TikTok reels, and snapping goofy faces for friends who are likely sitting three feet away.
Before this becomes a social commentary—back to the collapsing lead! From 8…to 5…to 3…to zero. Tied at 20, sophomore Fran Franchise Barbano ripped off five serves, aided by three Cam Bam Tabak kills, to close out Miramonte.
Carondolet:
This set up the big one vs Carondolet. The pregame highlight? A heated debate in the stands over whether the pronunciation of Carondolet was French, Scandinavian, or – per one bold parent – Liechtenstein. A mystery on par with the missing bleacher seat.
The court battle was just as fierce. The Dons trailed early 7-13, clawed within two several times, but fell 21-25 on too many unforced errors.
Set 2 saw the Dons fall behind 9-11 when Camille Ace Chang fired off six serves in a row, including two aces, to put the Dons up 16-12. Kai-Fi Copen set her hitters up beautifully, spreading the ball around and keeping Carondelet guessing, while Quinn-tessential, had a strong set with 7 kills.
The rubber set was pure grit. The teams traded blows. A highlight rally saw Barbano dive to touch the ball, Quinn fling it up, and Valentina somehow push it over for a point. It was like a Rocky workout montage without the awesome 80s music. Tied at 9, Cam Bam had two kills, Shae an ace, and Camille Chang sealed it with a strong serve.
A true all-around victory showing what happens when the Dons play together with effort and passion.
California:
Immediately after the Dons earned the Gold Bracket’s top seed, the girls promptly lost to 4th-seeded California in two flat sets. A pile of miscues did them in.
The Dons should forget California, be proud of their run, and motivated to work harder than their parents did to find that bleacher seat.
Disclaimer. This column is directionally accurate, but relies on rampant speculation and questionable statistics and attribution. Please read accordingly.
2nd Disclaimer. The bleacher seat was found.