[Photo] The Chaparral Lady Pumas remain unbeaten (16-0) after a hard-fought win in their league opener against Murrieta Valley, 3-2. Valley News/Courtesy photo
- Chaparral (16-0, 1-0): 26-25-22-25-19=3
- Murrieta Valley (8-3, 1-0): 28-18-25-22-17=2
TEMECULA — As I was watching the Murrieta Valley at Chaparral girls’ volleyball match on Monday, I was reminded of a lyric from SHeDAISY’s “I’m Taking the Wheel” which goes “It’s a knockdown, drag-out fight…”
For two and a half hours on Sept. 5 at Chaparral High School, that’s exactly what the Lady Pumas and Murrieta Valley were locked into during their Southwestern League girls’ volleyball opener.
It wasn’t easy for Chaparral, but they managed to fight their way to a five-set win over Murrieta Valley. They stay undefeated at 16-0, 1-0 heading into Wednesday’s match at Vista Murrieta.
“I’m proud of our girls for hanging in there and coming through at the end against a tough Murrieta Valley team,” Chaparral coach Gale Johnson said. “For these last few days volleyball has been an escape for a number of our girls as they dealt with the unknown of the Fairview Fire. This was an emotionally draining match against a scrappy team that just refused to let the ball drop and we had a few of those at Mohs also so it’s beginning to add up emotionally as well as physically.”
Chaparral raced out to a big opening set lead of 11-2 on an ace from Makai Ford. However, the Nighthawks steadily chipped away and took a lead at 18-17 on an ace from Megan Gajda, who had four aces as part of Murrieta Valley’s rally to the lead. Ford had kills at 25-24 and 26-25 to set up two set points which the Nighthawks survived, and the set ended on a kill from Mya Jackson.
Ford said, “Losing that first set was crushing but I’m really proud of our team for overcoming that finish and finding a way to get the job done. That defense of Murrieta Valley is really frustrating to go against because we’re a power team and they just dug everything, forcing us to use other aspects of our game to score.”
In the second set, Chaparral’s blocking duo of Bella Rittenberg and Mauri Rayford came to life, accounting for four assisted blocks in a 25-18 set two victory which tied the match at one set each. The Pumas never trailed in the set and their largest lead was 23-10 on a kill from Madi Johnson.
“I’m on so much adrenaline right now but we’re very tired mentally,” Rittenberg said. “I made sure I was physically ready by rolling out and making sure I recovered properly but it’s still a grind. This match is the epitome of Southwestern League volleyball because you have to earn every win and it’s just amazing to see the talent level that we can amass across one league.”
Murrieta Valley jumped out to a 13-10 lead in the third on three kills in seven points from Miley Thunstrom along with a block from Jackson and Gajda. Chaparral fought off two set points on a Rittenberg kill and Ford ace but Ryleigh Short ended it with a kill and put the Nighthawks up 2-1 with a 25-22 win.
In the fourth, the Nighthawks raced out to an early 4-1 lead on a kill from Jackson. Chaparral responded with a 7-1 run to grab an 8-5 lead on a kill from Devin Hicks on setter dump. Then a Ford kill plus a pair of Murrieta Valley attack errors pushed the Puma lead to 22-17 and the set ended on a kill from Ford.
Neither side had more than a two-point lead in the fifteen-point tiebreaker which ended on three kills from Ford in the last six points.
Derryl Trujillo can be reached via email at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
