In front of a standing room only gym, Santa Clarita Christian volleyball beat Trinity Classical Academy 3-1 at home on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals coasted through the fourth game, but their progress was halted momentarily as the Knights scored four consecutive points to bring the deficit to three points.
With the score resting at 24-21, SCCS (10-2 overall, 3-0 in Heritage League) tipped the ball over the net just a hair faster than a Trinity player could make a block to take the game 25-22.
“It was huge,” said Cards coach Darcy Brown. “Not only for our school but for our team, for the girls that were here … for them to come out and prove that they can do this and play tight games and win, I think is a big deal.”
The Knights (6-7, 2-2) came out strong to win the first game 25-23. They trailed midway through the frame, but an ace pulled them ahead 16-15 to keep the momentum going.
But errors slowed that momentum in Game 2, as SCCS jumped out to an early lead and trailed only once.
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Strong performances from the Cardinals’ outside hitters continued to drive success in Game 3, which SCCS took 25-21. Aaronya Crosswhite had the game-winning kill that kept the team’s tempo up heading into the last game of the night.
“We just talk and if something is going wrong, we’re just like ‘All right, this is what we need to do to fix it,’ and we just get on it,” Crosswhite said. “My setter (Megan Dombrowski) is really good and she gets me what I need, so it helps.”
Crosswhite led SCCS in kills with 14, with Kalona Marr following at 12. Crosswhite also added 12 digs and Dombrowski finished the night with 24 assits.
“We have lots of girls that can do their job effectively … So tonight our outsides did a great job, other nights it might be our middles,” Brown said. “I’m proud of all the girls … We don’t have just one hitter or one go to girl that we can go to.”
The two teams meet again on October 17.
