The Santa Clarita Christian and Castaic High School communities were ready for volleyball to return and showed it during the teams’ high-energy, deafening season-opening matchup.
The Coyotes won the match in straight sets, 25-12, 25-18, 25-23, marking the program’s first-ever season-opening win and true road game victory.
For Castaic coach Taylor Schubert, the team has been putting in the work to change the culture of Coyotes girls’ volleyball.
“This is the first time we’ve started the year with a win, so that’s good for them and morale,” Schubert said. “They’ve been really working hard this year to try and change who we are, how we perceive ourselves and how other people perceive us. This was a good start to the season.”
Castaic (1-0) kept the intensity high at the end line, where five Coyotes were able to register multiple service aces.
The tough serving ended up resulting in nearly 20 service errors, but still wreaked havoc. SCCS (0-1) struggled with its serve receive to start before cleaning up the passing later in the match. Shaky passing kept the team out of system and withheld SCCS from hitting on the net. The Cardinals registered just one kill in the first set while four different Coyotes were able to put the ball away.
Castaic outside hitter Bella Flores caught fire to start and slammed down five of her match-high eight kills in the first game.
Coyotes setter Claudia Martinez was nearly forced out of the match early with an ankle injury but powered through the medical timeout and instantly returned to the floor. Martinez showed she was just fine on her first play back, with a dump kill.
“I’m not surprised that she could stand up, because she’s that person,” Schubert said. “She’ll just power through anything.”
No one had a bigger day serving than SCCS’ Sophia Glenn. Down nearly double digits in the decisive third set, Glenn reignited her team with a monster run from the end line. The Cardinal added four of her six aces in the run to cut Castaic’s lead in half.
The Coyotes saw their 20-11 lead turn into a 23-23 scoreboard but found a way in one of the loudest environments the team’s played in.
“It was crazy. Wherever we go, we always want to have support. So the crowd, JV and freshman teams came out and did a great job, they were loud,” Schubert said. “I think I lost hearing. It was insane. It was hard to communicate with the girls on the court, but they did an amazing job.”
Jasmine Macnicoll also added six kills and two aces for Castaic. Leyla Buela and Arielle Greene finished with four kills while freshman libero Brooklyn Ray anchored the back row and added two aces for the Coyotes.
The Cardinals came within striking distance but fell to a Flores ace at match point.
SCCS’ comeback showed all the grit and fight coach Darcy Brown wanted to see from her new team.
“Walking away from the game gave us a lot to work on,” Brown said. “It really pointed out our areas of weakness that we need to fix and It showed us where some of our strengths were.”
Brown doesn’t believe the team will struggle in serve receive for long and knows the Cards are poised for big things this season.
“We have girls that I know can pass and do well,” Brown said. “I think the gym was hyped and loud. I think we were a little amped. They just needed to settle in. They were excited, nervous and all that. I know that there’s a lot of potential.”
SCCS will reassess and shoot for its fourth straight Heritage League title. Brown has high hopes for her 2024 squad and believes a lot lies ahead for the Cardinals.
“I want them to just continue to be more and more confident in their roles,” Brown said. “Some girls are still trying to figure out what role that is. Some of these girls are playing at a new level, and I know they can handle it, but it’s just a matter of them being confident within themselves that they can handle it. So, to play a team like that, with some pretty hard hitters, it was a great experience for them … I’m excited for what lies ahead. I’m excited for all the things that we were able to learn, talk through and already work on. We’ll continue to build from there.”
Castaic remains quite the underdog in the Foothill League race, but winning this match could give the team some momentum this season and fast track the program in years to come. Schubert has seen her young team put in a ton of work this off-season as they prepare for a potentially pivotal season.
“They’ve come a long, long way, especially with the two freshmen that I pulled up and then quite a few sophomores. We’ve kind of been unrecognizable,” Schubert said. “This was way better than I was anticipating. They showed up today, so I hope we can keep doing that.”
