West Ranch volleyball beat Valencia 3-1 on Thursday night, extending the Wildcats’ Foothill League win streak to four games. Their last loss was on Sept. 13 to Hart.
“We feel like we have something to prove coming into the second round of league,” said West Ranch senior Sophie Bobal. “The first round was a little rocky for us so I think we all put our heads together and said this is what we want and this is how we’re going to do it.”
In a first game riddled with unforced errors on both sides of the net. The Wildcats (10-11 overall, 6-3 in Foothill League) scored four unanswered points, finishing with a Bobal kill to set up a 22-18 lead. Arianna Romagnano served up two aces to finish Game 1 at 25-18.
West Ranch was the first to score in the second game, but the Vikings (9-19, 1-8) rattled off a handful of points for a 5-2 lead and hung on to it for the rest of the frame. The Cats tied it up twice, but Valencia ultimately ended it with a kill from Macy Kirkwood, which was set up by Kaelyn White.
“Just to be more focused,” Vikes coach Ray Sanchez said of the message before Game 2. “Minimize our mistakes as much as we can and just be better competitively. It’s just all mental stuff.”
In a competitive third game, the two teams were neck-and-neck before West Ranch pulled away with a 17-12 lead on an Allison Jacobs kill. Later, two tips from Bobal earned the Wildcats a 21-17 advantage.
The Vikings’ Jaela Bernard tied it at 23-all with a kill, then West Ranch fought hard for a point with low digs and gained a 24-23 lead on an unforced Valencia error. Kendall Thompson executed a kill for a 24-24 tie, but the Wildcats’ Alex Muira put the game away with an ace at 26-24 moments later.
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“We’ve spent a lot of time on defense,” said West Ranch Jamey Ker. “There’s more than a couple really boring practices but they were incredibly focused practices on specific skills and defense has been that.”
West Ranch carried over its momentum into the fourth game and never trailed, winning the game 25-17 on an ace from Bobal.
“It’s senior year so I kind of just, the last second I said I kind of want to take a pause and remember this moment,” Bobal, who had nine kills and 12 digs, said.
Jacobs led the team with 27 kills, 10 digs and five aces. Gwen Garate added seven kills and Caitlyn Varsam had seven digs. Maxime Osunsanmi chipped in three solo blocks.
Hart 3, Canyon 0
Game scores were 25-8, 25-17, 25-15. Zoe DiNardo led Hart with 11 kills, followed by Shelby Grubbs with 10 kills and five blocks. Ruby Duncan and Megan Soto tied with eight kills, while CJ Catabona had 15 digs and Noelle Blumel had 16 digs.
The Indians remain undefeated in league at 16-2 overall and 8-0 in league. They next play at West Ranch on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Cowboys are 12-11 and 3-6 and host Golden Valley on Tuesday at 5:30.
Saugus 3, Golden Valley 2
The Centurions won with scores of 18-25, 25-21, 26-24, 15-25, 5-15.
Saugus’ Kayla Tait paced the team with 26 kills and 25 digs. Rhiannon Boddy logged 35 digs and Amira Fann had 20 assists and eight blocks. Jessica Nash had 19 assists and 14 digs. For the Grizzlies, Jordan Nunez logged 16 kills and 21 digs. Reinyel Leonidas followed with 18 digs.
Saugus is 19-10 and 6-2 and will host Valencia on Tuesday at 5:30. Golden Valley is 17-9 and 2-6 and has a home match against Taft on Monday at 5 p.m.
SCCS 3, Vasquez 0
Santa Clarita Christian School swept Vasquez with scores of 25-8, 25-29 and 25-18. The Cardinals next play Mammoth tonight at home at 5 p.m.
