Hart girls volleyball (7-2, 4-1) dominated their home matchup with Golden Valley (3-8, 1-5).
The Indians won with scores of 25-9, 25-21 and 25-10.
Opposite hitter Madison Maxwell led the Indians again with 20 kills.
Hart’s offense got kills from everywhere in the first set. Outside hitter Maiah Jiz and Maxwell led the way but plenty of other Indians hitters would get in on the action.
Setter Morgan Dumlao was key in that balance and finished with 34 assists and four aces.
“I think we did a really good job spreading the offense,” said Maxwell. “It’s what we’ve been working on a lot in practice. We’ve been passing the ball well enough to set everyone on our side.”
Jiz would come close to a double-double, registering seven kills and seven aces.
The Grizzlies couldn’t keep up and were blown by in the first set.
The Indians’ strong serving kept Golden Valley off balance and the team couldn’t muster up much offense.
Hart built up another lead in the second set but Golden Valley finally fought back. The Grizzlies would go on a 6-0 run with Mae LeGaspi on the service line. The setter shook up the Indians’ serve receive and registered two aces in her run.
Indians head coach Mary Irilian just told her team to stick with it and play the ball.
“We have moments of being up and down so we’re trying to work on more consistency,” said Irilian. “We’re also emphasizing effort and maximum effort.”
Golden Valley couldn’t take the lead but was fighting hard for points. The team passed the ball better and was much more active on the net and serve.
The Grizzlies have one of the stronger middle blocker tandems in the Foothill League with Megan Moreno and Miranda Dahl. The two kept Hart’s middle attack in check with key blocks on the net.
However, the Golden Valley passing was just not consistent enough to get the middles more opportunities on offense. LeGaspi and setter Emmy Hance set the balls they could to the middles and the pins.
Moreno led the Grizzlies with six kills.
The Grizzlies took their first lead of the game in the third but it was short-lived. Hart pulled away quickly and the team was not planning on taking more time than needed to put the game away. The offense and serving flowed yet again and Hart was able to keep Golden Valley off balance throughout the final set.
The Grizzlies will take a day and prepare for Canyon on Thursday. The team has made some lineup changes and seems on the verge of figuring out the winning recipe. LeGaspi and the middles can cause problems on the net while M’Launie Sanchez, Sophie Smith and Marina Miranda can all hit well at the outside spot.
It was a good win for the Indians but they’ll look to improve whatever they can on short notice before heading to Saugus next.
“Passing could be way better,” said Jiz. “If we stay consistent, we should be able to put up a fight with Saugus.”
Consistency is key for Irilian. The team was set to face the Centurions Wednesday followed by a big Santa Barbara tournament this weekend. The coach is looking forward to seeing how her team can play against top competition.
“Obviously we want to win but we want to be fighters in the end,” said Irilian. “I want them to use the good opponents and challenging teams to help us become better.”
