Following nine straight losses, the West Ranch Wildcats secured their third Foothill League win of the season with a four-set win over the Hart Hawks, 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 26-24, at home Thursday.
“It’s been a pretty tough year, pretty tough matches and just a lot of close ones,” West Ranch head coach Brandon Johnson said. “We battled through it and we made errors, but we fought hard when we needed to. And even at the end, [Hart] went on a run to tie the game, but the boys’ shoulders never slumped, and eyes never fell.”
One of the Wildcats (7-16, 3-7) who led West Ranch to its first win since March 20 was senior opposite hitter Skyler Hillemann, who recorded 13 kills and 15 digs across four sets.
After the game, Johnson said Hillemann has been a leader for the team throughout the year as the Wildcats went game-by-game in the Foothill League.
He’s an emotional leader for sure,” Johnson said. “The boys feed off him so when he’s feeling food, when he’s being a great leader, we’re very effective.”
Junior setter Stephen Choi also tallied 35 assists throughout the match and led the team in the win.
The Wildcats jumped to fifth place in the boys’ volleyball Foothill League standings with a 3-7 record and are one game behind the fourth-place Castaic Coyotes.
For Hart (9-12, 3-7), the Hawks dropped their seventh loss in Foothill League play and are in sixth place in the standings and will look to bounce back on Monday in a road matchup against the Centurions at Saugus High School at 5 p.m.
As the Wildcats prepare for their final two games, Johnson is looking forward to ending the year strong. He believes the momentum from this win can help West Ranch finish the year with more wins.
“Our league is so much fun this year because every single match you’re like, ‘Who beat who?'” he said. “So, we’re just going to prepare and we’re going to be ready to go and play hard and hopefully results go our way.”
After Thursday’s games, here are scores from around the Foothill League:
Valencia 3, Castaic 1: With the Foothill League title wrapped up, the Valencia Vikings (20-7, 10-0) added a win over the Castaic Coyotes (15-10, 4-7).
The Vikings will look to win again on Monday in a road matchup against the Grizzlies at Golden Valley High School with the game set to begin at 5 p.m.
The Coyotes look to rebound on Wednesday in their final league game of the season against the Centurions at Saugus High School with the game set to begin at 5:30 p.m.
Canyon 3, Golden Valley 1: The Canyon Cowboys (22-10, 6-4) secured their sixth Foothill League win of the season with a home victory over the Golden Valley Grizzlies (5-14, 2-8).
The Cowboys play again on Monday at West Ranch High School against the Wildcats at 5:30 p.m. while the Grizzlies look to bounce back at home against the Vikings at 5 p.m.
