The girls volleyball team (6-1) clinched first place in the Crestview League after defeating the Cypress High School Centurions (6-2) in its senior night home match on Thursday, Oct. 9.
The Lady Lancers took the match in straight sets, 25-21, 25-15, 25-19, setting a different tone than their first victory on Tuesday, Sept. 23, when the teams battled in five sets.
“I’m ecstatic; having Cypress come in our house and having the ASB [Associated Student Body] and the student section just going nuts was absolutely incredible and really helped us do our job on the court and let everybody know, ‘This is our house,’” head coach Amanda Donaldson said.
Beginning the match, the team trailed 3-0 behind the Centurions after unforced hitting and defensive errors. However, defensive specialist junior Lilly Hernandez shifted the momentum with her six-point serving run, putting the Lady Lancers up 8-4.
“I felt really good that I was able to get Cypress out of system,” Hernandez said. “I was just trying to stay consistent and put the ball in play, trusting that my teammates would make the plays.”
Captain and outside hitter senior Kayla Thienprasiddhi said she wasn’t worried about the Centurions’ early lead.
“We come back a lot, and I feel like everyone was just nervous because of the student section,” Thienprasiddhi said. “I knew that we’d get it together.”
The team maintained its lead throughout the remainder of the set, executing the strategy the players set before the match, which included stopping the Centurions’ setter from attacking and keeping an eye on the outside hitter senior Isabella Faro.
“It is a lot of strategy that the girls have done just a great job being able to handle all of those switches last minute, and we were able to slow down their setter big time and take away her offensive presence and slow down the outsides and take away some of their offensive presence that we saw when we played in the first time around,” Donaldson said.
In the second set, the Lady Lancers continued their momentum and led 2-0 after early errors by the Centurions.
Thienprasiddhi said she emphasized the importance of staying calm and continuing their style of play.
“I like to tell my team not to get too overconfident because Cypress, especially, is really known for coming back against teams,” she said. “So, I always tell them to stay consistent and keep our same energy levels.”
Though the Centurions almost managed to take the lead after reaching 12-11 with kills from their outside and opposite hitters, the Lady Lancers finished off the set 25-15 with a block from opposite hitter senior Rielynn Brimmer.
“Between all the players last night and even the other players that stepped in when needed, they did a phenomenal job,” the head coach said. “Senior Rielynn Brimmer came in at the end of set two on game point, and she didn’t just come in and let the rest of the team take care of business; she stepped in and got a block for a point.
“That’s exactly what everybody that’s coming off the bench needs to do, and they’re ready to do it.”
In the beginning points of the shutout win’s final set, the Lady Lancers and the Centurions battled fiercely, being tied 7-7, but outside hitter junior Olivia Urias’ kill gave Sunny Hills the permanent lead.
Along with Urias, co-captain and middle blocker sophomore Reagan Williams’ blocks and kills gave the Lady Lancers a larger lead of 13-9.
“It felt like we were starting to get a little comfortable, but we quickly realized that wasn’t the case and snapped back into it,” Williams said. “We did amazing at coming out humble and being very aggressive with our play, running one of our faster offenses, and it showed by our win.”
The head coach said it was difficult to pick one player who stood out in the victory.
“I mean, between Timmy [Thienprasiddhi], Livvy [Urias], Reagan and Izzy [junior Isabelle Kim], those four are forces to be reckoned with,” she said. “They all did their jobs, and if they weren’t there for each other to back each other up, it wouldn’t have been the same.”
For four-year varsity player Thienprasiddhi, the game meant more for her than just another win.
“I’ve always imagined winning our senior night, but I also imagined playing a bad team; Cypress is a really good team, so I feel like winning against them on our senior night proves a lot about our team and the seniors,” the co-captain said.
The Lady Lancers will play their final league match away against Canyon High School in Anaheim on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 5:30 p.m. A victory would put them as the sole champions of the Crestview League, and a loss would tie them with Cypress for the title.
