Following back-to-back losses, Santa Clarita Christian girls’ volleyball rebounded at home with a win over the Palmdale Aerospace Academy Griffons.
The Cardinals swept the Griffons in straight sets, 25-18, 25-9, 25-12, and recorded their seventh Heritage League win of the year.
“This is a really great team with girls who really want to win, and they’ve been working hard,” Cardinals head coach Ellie Niehus said. “We’re proud of the effort, and the energy they’ve put into this season so far. And I think it clicked for us tonight. We’re hoping to see that continue and be consistent and see what the rest of the season has in store.”
The Cardinals (14-18-1, 7-3) opened the game with a 7-1 lead over the Griffons (3-14-1, 2-9) in the first set. But the Griffons came back to cut the deficit to three with the score 10-7 following a hitting error by the Cardinals.
The teams traded points back and forth, but SCCS took back the lead in a big way, 19-13, after back-to-back aces from Sophia Glenn.
“Sophia has a lot in her toolbox, so it’s cool to see her mix it up with doing shots and also swinging harder,” Niehus said.
Following a kill from Carly Brenner to make it set point for the Cardinals, the Griffons committed a hitting error on the following play and handed the first set victory to SCCS.
In the second set, the Cardinals fell behind the Griffons as both teams were tied at four apiece after a Palmdale service error.
But a kill from Rebekah Wilson gave the Cardinals back the lead and shifted the momentum back onto SCCS’s side.
“She’s like a gentle giant,” Niehus said. “She’s tall, she’s up there with the net and she goes and crushes it. It’s super cool to see her be gentle, joyful mixed in with her competitive skill.
With an 8-6 lead, Sloan Johnson landed an ace that wound up being the first of a 12-point scoring streak for the Cardinals before the Griffons scored again to stop the bleeding following a kill.
SCCS won the second set, 25-9, after an ace and continued that momentum into the third set as the team jumped to a 7-0 lead.
A Griffons kill cut the deficit to six, but on the next play, a service error handed the momentum back to SCCS and the Cardinals extended their lead to 14-4 following a kill from Brookyln Wick.
“Brooklyn was a force at the net tonight,” Niehus said. “Almost every ball that was set up for her was a kill.”
The Cardinals ended the third set on an 11-8 scoring run to clinch the third set victory and complete the sweep over the Griffons for the team’s 14th overall win of the season.
The team is now tied in league wins with Faith Baptist and Trinity in the Heritage League in a tight league race that has the top five teams separated by three wins.
After the game, Niehus was proud of her team for the sweep over a league rival but said there is still more work to do to keep up the success for the rest of the year.
“It’s up to the players to take this in stride and learn from the good things they did tonight and keep putting that in play for the rest of the season,” Niehus said.
The Cardinals play again Tuesday on the road at Lancaster Baptist with the game set to begin at 6 p.m.
