Pacifica High’s girls volleyball team swept the three sets of its match at the Molten Volleyball Classic Tournament against the host team Mayfair High Saturday, Sept. 6.
The victory over the Monsoons marked their third win of the tournament, which is three more than the Lady Mariners have achieved in the past six years at the Molten classic.
Mayfair started off the match against Pacifica strong in the first set but the team eventually suffered a close 26-24 loss, which inspired the Lady Mariners to go on and win the last two sets in dominating fashion.
Pacifica High’s girls volleyball team swept the three sets of its match at the Molten Volleyball Classic Tournament against the host team Mayfair High Saturday, Sept. 6.
The victory over the Monsoons marked their third win of the tournament, which is three more than the Lady Mariners have achieved in the past six years at the Molten classic.
Mayfair started off the match against Pacifica strong in the first set but the team eventually suffered a close 26-24 loss, which inspired the Lady Mariners to go on and win the last two sets in dominating fashion.
Pacifica put up an impressive 25-13 score in the second set of the match. The second game was dominated by the Mariners as the ladies up front made decisive blocks to deny many of Mayfair’s big hitters.
The third set played out a bit more closely as both squads were neck and neck until Pacifica finished the game at 25-19.
Erika Ray provided the Mariners with crucial blocks up front as she rose the highest above the net. Ray stands at a towering 6-foot-2 inches, and was the Mariners standout player.
Ray provided not only blocks but also accurate kills, which helped put away a lively Monsoon squad. Her senior season with Pacifica has gotten off to a quick start, and the Mariners will need her to stay injury-free if their will be any shot at a successful season.
Despite her big role on the team, Ray had excellent help from her teammates, who helped set up attacking opportunities.
Mariner libero Judy Pham was all over the court and looked as fresh as ever after playing four games previously in the tournament. The amount of stamina that Pham has, and her ability to dig out hard hits, will be a great asset this season for the Mariners.
When Pham was in the backfield it seemed like Mayfair always had to come up with something brilliant to carve out a point. Her talented control of the ball frustrated the Monsoons’ top hitters as many would-be kills were dug out by Pham.
Another big factor in Pacifica’s success over the weekend their serves. Many points can be lost frivolously right off the bat if a player makes a mistake on the serve. A point is given to the other team and so to is the serving role.
This facet in Pacifica’s arsenal looks to have been worked on this summer as the Mariners had a very high serve success rate.
Lady Mariner Breanna Gardner was superb from the line and went on a 5-0 run late in the second set, which helped her side pull away quickly for the win.
After Gardner’s first few ace serves, coach Cory Cahill rose out of his seat and said “Keep it going!”
Gardner’s next serve would hit out of bounds on Mayfair’s side but the damage had been done and Mayfair looked to have no way back.
This year’s squad looks much stronger than last year’s. Pacifica only achieved two league victories in 2013, and nine overall.
With the Mariners already having a three victories so early, this season’s team looks like it will change the face of Pacifica volleyball.
Pacifica's next tournament is at Santiago High School on Sept. 20, and its opening game of the regular season is against Ocean View High just five days later on Sept. 25.
