By Bryanna Winner
For The Signal
The fifth-seeded Trinity Classical Knights traveled to Cudahy to take on the fourth-seeded Elizabeth Learning Center Bulldogs Thursday night during the second round of the CIF State Division V Tournament.
The team was fighting the entire match trying to keep their season alive and when it came down to the third game, they were able to get one on the board but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs (30-3) defeated the Knights (21-11) in four games: 25-14, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20.
“We had a lot of fight and energy, but I think we could’ve improved on our serving, keeping our time behind the servers line and server speed passing being a little bit more in system,” said Trinity Classical Academy head coach Rebecca Peluffo.
Junior Riley Spector led the team in digs with 20 while senior Paige Kim trailed right behind with 18 digs and led the team in kills with 12. Kim also had two blocks to add to her digs and kills.
Senior Tori Fay finished with 11 digs, five kills and one ace, senior Nicole Amoroso had nine digs, four blocks and led the Knights in assists with 25 and aces with five. Junior Reagan Fernandez had six digs, one ace and led the team with eight blocks and senior Tamar Tchilingirian finished with two digs, two kills, and one block.
This team had many firsts this season as they made it all the way to the CIF-Southern Section Division 8 Championship match and the CIF State Division V Tournament for the first time in program history.
“A lot of the team will be moving on to play different sports,” Peluffo said. “We will have a time of celebration as a team again to celebrate the amazing season we did have, celebrate all the joy we experienced and the growth that took place within our whole team.”
The Bulldogs will face the Mammoth Huskies Saturday night while the Knights finish their season as the CIF-Southern Section Division 8 runner-ups and Heritage League title holders with a 21-10 record.
