Following back-to-back losses to Murietta Mesa and Orange Lutheran, the Saugus Centurions returned to Foothill League play Tuesday on the road, eying a bounce-back win.
The Centurions prevailed over the Vikings in four sets, 25-18, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22, and began the Foothill League season 3-0 at Valencia High School.
“I think we did enough to win. And sometimes that’s what we need,” Saugus head coach Zach Ambrose said. “Valencia has been playing well. We’re at their home gym, both 2-0, and they came out on fire. We had to weather the storm.”
After the game, Ambrose said that the Saugus (18-4-1, 3-0) victory on Thursday was an “ugly win” but believes his Centurions were playing their best volleyball toward the later sets.
Following a first-set win, the Vikings (4-4, 2-1) came out with a second-set victory with Valencia’s Nyla Willstead delivering the kill.
But in the following sets, Ambrose wanted to see his team to be more consistent, especially for his attack during the team’s rallies.
“That’s really what we’ve been trying to work on the whole year,” Ambrose said. “We seem to have really high highs, and then we have a couple of lows in between. If we can just smooth that out a little bit, I think we’re going to increase our momentum as we go through league.”
With the win, the Centurions began the Foothill League 3-0 and will look to build upon their momentum in a home matchup at Saugus High School against the West Ranch Wildcats.
The Wildcats, who are ranked as the No.11 team in the state of California, according to MaxPreps, will be a tough matchup for the Centurions,but Ambrose believes his team is ready for the early-season challenge.
“We’re just going to watch film. Everybody knows everybody in this league, and we’re just going to prepare the best that we can and give them our best,” he said.
As for Valencia, the loss dropped the Vikings to 2-1 in Foothill League play and will look to bounce back on the road Tuesday at Castaic High School in a matchup against the Coyotes with first serve scheduled for 5 p.m.
After Tuesday’s games, here are scores from around the Foothill League:
West Ranch 3, Golden Valley 0: The West Ranch Wildcats (6-5, 2-0), who are ranked as the No. 11 in the state, according to MaxPreps, began the Foothill League season 2-0 including a win over the Golden Valley Grizzlies (2-13-3, 0-3).
The Wildcats will look to build upon their momentum on Thursday at Saugus High School in a matchup against the Centurions with the first serve set for 5 p.m.
As for Golden Valley, the Grizzlies will look to bounce back at Golden Valley High School against the visiting Hart Hawks with the game set to begin at 5 p.m.
Castaic 3, Hart 1: After a loss in the team’s last Foothill League contest, the Castaic Coyotes (10-3, 2-1) bounced back with a home win over the Hart Hawks (3-8-2, 0-2).
With the win, the Coyotes began the Foothill League season 2-1 and looked to keep up their momentum on Thursday at Canyon High School against the Cowboys with the game set to begin at 5 p.m.
As for Hart, the Hawks look to bounce back Thursday at Golden Valley High School against the Grizzlies with first serve scheduled for 5 p.m.
