[Photo] The Paloma Valley girls’ volleyball team won a pair of Ivy League matches, including a five-set thriller over Elsinore. Valley News/Action Captures Media Group
— It has been a couple of weeks since we opened the Valley News Prep Volleyball notebook so there is a lot to catch you up on.
Durango Tournament
Vista Murrieta made their yearly trek to Vegas for the Durango Tournament last month (Sept. 16-17). The Lady Broncos won their Friday afternoon pool but failed to win a match in Saturday bracket play. They finished in a tie for fifteenth.
Hamilton Tournament
Rancho Christian and Linfield Christian met in the tournament final with the Lady Eagles taking their second title of the season.
Freeway Games
Murrieta Valley fell to Santiago in a rematch of an earlier non-league encounter in the Gold Division bracket play. Meanwhile, Paloma Valley won a consolation bracket title with a victory over Alta Loma (Sept. 17).
Nike Tournament of Champions
This past weekend (Sept 30-Oct. 1) Vista Murrieta’s volleyball team also made their annual trip to Arizona for the Nike Tournament of Champions. The Lady Broncos went 2-1 in Friday’s pool play session with wins over Eagle (Idaho) and South Anchorage (Alaska) along with a loss to Horizon (Arizona). The following day they went 1-2 with a win over Los Alamitos along with losses against Bishop Gorman (Nevada) and Queen Creek (Arizona).
Claire Little reaches career milestone
Vista Murrieta’s Claire Little, a BYU commit, recently reached the 1,000-kill career milestone according to an online post. She did that in three seasons, due to there being no season in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes the accomplishment even more impressive.
Lady Lions and Lady Wildcats perfect in fives in 2022
In the year and a half since Dana Ortiz took over Linfield Christian’s girls volleyball program, they have appeared in eight five-set matches. More remarkable is the fact that they have won all of them. Their most recent triumph was a reverse sweep on the road at Woodcrest Christian in mid-September. Down 2-0 after falling 10-25 and 17-25, the Lady Lions roared back to win 25-21, 26-24 and 15-6. Anna Roth had 10 kills to lead Linfield Christian while Charys Hong and Jalee Nash each added 9.
Last week the Paloma Valley girls’ volleyball team won a pair of Ivy League matches in five sets against Elsinore and Hemet to move to 4-0 on the year in matches going the distance. “Our group has learned to trust each other,” Paloma Valley coach Stephen Kaas remarked in a message. ”In each of those matches someone different has come up big for us with a huge hitting, serving, digging or blocking run to spark us.”
CIF-SS Coaches Polls
As of the most recent CIF-SS volleyball coaches’ polls (Sept. 26) three area teams are ranked in their respective divisions.
In Division 1 and 2, Vista Murrieta is ranked 10th. Division 1 will be an eight-team field that plays pool play so based on this ranking the Lady Broncos will likely be placed into Division 2.
In Division 6, Rancho Christian is ranked 2nd. The Lady Eagles are rolling along in league play, going undefeated without dropping a set. Receiving votes in the same division is Temescal Canyon.
Players of the Week
Week of 9/17:
Charys Hong, Junior, OH, Linfield Christian
Hong recorded 9 kills and 10 digs with 3 aces over Woodcrest Christian. Ortiz said about Hong, “Charys stepped into the outside hitter spot against Woodcrest because of her consistency as a passer. She came up big for us with a consistent defensive, passing and service line presence. Charys has a great volleyball IQ and a calm demeanor that makes her easy to play with.”
Week of 9/24:
Claire Little, Senior, OH, Vista Murrieta
With just a day’s rest after finishing the Durango Tournament, the Lady Broncos returned to Southwestern League play and received a major scare from Temecula Valley before prevailing in 5 sets (21-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12). In the win, Little recorded 38 kills.
Week of 10/1:
Alexa Rosales, SR, OH, Paloma Valley
Trailing first place Riverside Poly by a match in the Ivy League standings and needing two wins to keep hope of a fourth straight league title alive for another week, the senior came through with back-to-back double doubles. First, on Tuesday in a five-set thriller against Elsinore, she posted 19 kills and 15 digs in a 25-20, 21-25, 16-25, 25-23, 15-9 victory over the Lady Tigers. Then on Thursday, in another five-set thriller, this time against Hemet, she recorded 19 kills with 19 digs as the Lady Wildcats prevailed 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 25-27 and 15-11.
Matches to watch
Ivy League
Paloma Valley at Riverside Poly
Last year it was the Citrus Belt League which had the area’s lead in 5-set matches played with a total of 10. In 2022, the Ivy League has played 4 matches that went 5 sets with Paloma Valley appearing in 3 of them. The Lady Wildcats in fact survived a pair of 5-set thrillers last week against Hemet and Elsinore to give themselves an opportunity to win another league title on Tuesday. Meanwhile the Lady Bears look to polish off back-to-back league titles just four years after not winning a single match. They too come into this match off a 5-set win, defeating Elsinore on their “Dig Pink” night.”
Southwestern League
Temecula Valley at Vista Murrieta
In their last meeting, which was right after Vista Murrieta returned from Las Vegas and the Durango Tournament, the Lady Bears pushed the Lady Broncos to a fifth set before falling. With a two-game lead starting the week, there might not be as much to play for this time around but there is one thing Vista Murrieta can carry out that they haven’t in this run of league titles…an undefeated campaign. A win here would be big in that goal as the Lady Broncos only dropped one set against their remaining two opponents.
Derryl Trujillo has been an area sportswriter since 2018 and is the 2019 IEBCA Supporter of the Year award winner. He can be reached via email at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
