The Valencia Vikings believe they’re playing their best volleyball of the season.
It’s a statement that’s tough to argue after Valencia swept the visiting Moorpark Musketeers on Saturday to advance to the CIF Division 5 quarterfinals.
The Vikings won the match, 25-22, 25-20, 25-16, behind textbook solid passing and serving.
The defense was anchored by senior libero Addison DeGard, who tallied up 25 digs and one ace in just three sets.

“Coming into it, we knew we all had to put it all on the court,” DeGard said. “This could’ve been my last game because I’m a senior. We came out fighting really hard and we knew they’d be good competition. And I think all of us just working together as a family, on and off the court, really helped us today.”
Valencia (16-15) improved in each set and pushed harder each time Moorpark found any momentum.
Leading the charge on offense was freshman middle blocker Nyla Willstead. The middle was consistent all night, especially in the first set where she added six of her 11 kills. Willstead carried a little more weight of the offense as senior middle Makayla Garcia missed the first set due to her ACT testing going long after her proctor showed up late.


Willstead also shares the sentiment that Valencia is about to peak.
“We’ve come a long way,” Willstead said. “I think we struggled a lot in the beginning of the season, and right now we’re just working so well as a team. We’ve improved so much as a team.”
The Vikings never trailed in the final game and punched their ticket to the quarterfinals after a highlight-filled third game.


Vikings sophomore Kayla Rust had a huge solo block to put her team up 18-13. Sophomore teammate Sophia Lagman serves the team as defensive specialist but made a huge impact in the back row. Lagman fired down a kill from the pipe to give Valencia match point before junior Annika Puno added her fourth kill of the set to seal the win.


“It all came down to that today,” said DeGard, who had 10 digs in the final set. “I think everyone was panicking a little in the second set but we just put our foot on the gas, and we just went for it. We went all out and tried our hardest.”


Puno finished the match with six kills.
Lagman made her biggest splash from the end line where she came up with three consecutive aces in the first game that erased a Moorpark two-point lead.
Garcia made it in between the first and second sets and jumped in after a few points. It took the middle some time to loosen up but she eventually found her rhythm and fired in one her four kills for set point.


The Musketeers played much better in the second set and somewhat slowed down Willstead. However, after a quiet first game, opposite hitter Mackenzie Hancsicsak fueled the offense with six of her nine kills.


Moorpark was led by sophomore Payton Holliday with seven kills.
Valencia’s defense was led by DeGard but numerous Vikings were critical in the steady passing performance. Lagman, setter Cayden Hobrecker and freshman Mai’ana Untalan all had a handful of key digs, including a fantastic pancake from the latter, that kept Valencia afloat.


DeGard believes passing is one of the biggest areas of improvement for her team.
“We always had trouble on tips or angle shots, but I think everyone improved tremendously with their digs and defense this season,” DeGard added.
Willstead was quick to agree when asked if she believed coach Kristin Dolan’s statement that the team is playing its best volleyball of the season to be true.
“I think it is. We’re playing really good in CIF right now, probably better than we did in league,” Willstead said. “In my opinion, we’re playing really well.”
Valencia will now make its first trip to the CIF quarterfinals in nine years. The program has had five playoff runs since with most of the stints ending as far as the second round.
The Vikings will return to action on Wednesday to host the Palm Desert Aztecs at 6 p.m. for a shot at the CIF semifinals.





