Valencia traveled to Canyon on Tuesday evening, looking to preserve a win streak as its Foothill League season came to a close.
Winning in straight sets, 25-17, 25-9, 25-16, the Vikings took care of business.
Finishing in second place in the Foothill League, Valencia (22-11 overall, 8-2 in Foothill League) had to play through some adversity Tuesday as two of their starters were out. Senior captain and leading assist getter Aaron Erskin, wasn’t able to play due to illness.
There was no need to worry. Sophomore Daniel Ra was ready and waiting to help his team out in his first start of the season. Filling in for Erskin, Ra did everything that his team asked of him on Tuesday night: Serve, set or execute some kills.
“Overall, I think I did great,” Ra said about his first start for the Vikings. “It was my first start so I was kind of nervous at first, but the first few points got me into the motion where I could set up my teammates and get points.”
The Vikings played off one another and utilized their team mentality to take down the Cowboys (11-16, 2-8).
“I think we did really well given that we didn’t have our full squad,” said David Chun “We were able to get our serves received to the setter, Ra. He did really well tonight and it just showed that everyone is a part of the team and we just work with that.”
Hoping to get back their captain back before playoffs next week, Valencia head coach Kevin Kornegay was proud of the way his team stepped up to finish out the season strong with a win.
“We just need to keep working on things that we always work on like combos, transitions, and try to get our serving tougher,” Kornegay said about the preparation for playoffs.
“We are going to add a couple guys from JV … and see how they are going to fit in the group and a couple big kids we might utilize in blocking situations and stuff … we are going to continue to work on that.”
