With realignment, it is inevitable that there are certain rivalries which will fall to the wayside as area high schools are shuffled between leagues every few years. One such rivalry is the Elsinore and Paloma Valley series in girls volleyball which finished with a last hurrah on Wednesday, Oct. 11 in Menifee.
In the MaxPreps era, for which records are readily available and date back to 2004, Elsinore closes the series with a 27-11 lead. However, in the last six years Paloma Valley holds an 8-3 lead with three matches needing all five sets to decide a winner. Those numbers are prior to today’s finale.
“It saddens me to hear that this rivalry will come to an end,” Trysta Vincelli (current MSJC setter and Elsinore alum) said. “Paloma Valley was one of the toughest teams I ever played against in high school. When we beat them in my senior year it was the best feeling that I ever had from High School volleyball because we had never experienced it before. I’ll also remember the packed gyms at both schools that we got to play in front of. “
Rivalries bring out the best in teams and players and over the last few years this rivalry did not disappoint.
“Coming back five or six years after I played in those matches, I understand why the change is happening, but it’ll still be sad to not see them in league play,” Madison Anderson (a current Paloma Valley assistant who played in six rivalry matches from ‘16-’18) said. “All these years later I still have a Player of the Match shirt I won from that rivalry and have memories of seeing teammates from my club team on the other side of that net. Those crowds made every match feel like a playoff game and not just your ordinary Sunbelt League matchup.”
Where one rivalry ends hopefully others can begin with new memories for a new generation of student-athletes to enjoy years from now.
Derryl Trujillo can be reached at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
