Coming off a third-place finish in the Foothill League standings last season, the Canyon girls’ volleyball team hit the court on Tuesday and opened the 2026 season against the visiting Paraclete Spirits of Lancaster.
The Cowboys were swept in their season opener by the Spirits, 18-25, 16-25, 23-25, and started the new year in the loss column.
“It’s good to have your first game behind and see what you need to work on,” said head coach Samantha Holcombe. “It was a good learning opportunity for us to see where we need to adjust in our play.”
This season, the Cowboys (0-1) have two freshmen in middle blocker Kyla Nichols and defensive specialist Sawrina Lazar as key players who contributed right away with timely blocks and sets.
With a young team this season, Holcombe expects there to be growing pains throughout the year and is looking toward the leadership of her senior opposite hitter Marli Magee, who helped the Cowboys remain competitive during rallies in the loss.
“She’s great. She doesn’t just want to come out, she kind of has to be great,” Holcombe said. “It’s a lot of pressure, and being mentally tough, when you know you have to stay in the whole game. It’s her third year on varsity, and we only have one other girl that has that much experience.”
After the Cowboys dropped the first two sets, the team was competitive in the third with a back-and-forth battle against the Spirits (1-0).
The Spirits led 22-19 after a kill but the Cowboys rallied and were down two after a Magee spike that found space through Paraclete’s defense.
Magee again came through for the Cowboys in the late stages of the third set with a timely ace and cut Paraclete’s lead to 24-22 before the Spirits ended the game with a kill from Sa’mya Ritchie.
Following the game, Holcombe said that after the team lost the first two sets, she was glad to see the team still have fight in the third and hopes to see that competitiveness pay off later in the season.
“At least we were finishing on a higher note and not taking the first set and riding with it,” Holcombe said. “So, at least they have that fight in them, and hopefully we can see that throughout the season.”
Although a loss isn’t the way she wanted to start the season, she believes that there was much to learn about where her team can improve during the preseason as the Cowboys gear up for Foothill League play in September.
“I couldn’t wait to play this game. I wanted to see where we were good at, and I wanted to see what we needed to work on,” Holcombe said. “There was a little bit of both sides. So, yeah, I’m excited to see how we take this feedback from this match and apply it to games coming forward.”
The Cowboys will look to bounce back quickly with a home matchup at Canyon High School against the visiting Simi Valley Pioneers on Thursday with the first serve set for 6 p.m.
