The season has not quite gone as planned for the Sierra High Timberwolves Volleyball team.
Just a year after advancing to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III quarterfinals, interim coach Lexi Raya’s young squad has struggled to find momentum.
That all changed Thursday night as the Timberwolves picked up their second Valley Oak League victory of the season in a closer-than-the-scoreboard-showed, straight-set win over East Union, 25-15, 25-18, and 25-10.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Raya said. “Obviously, the start of the season wasn’t what we wanted, but this is the second match in a row we’ve come out and competed and showed what we are capable of doing on the court.”
Sierra (2-4, 3-14) showed the signs of a resilient team figuring it out, as it found itself down in all three sets before pulling away late in each.
The first set saw the Lancers (1-5, 6-13) jump out to a 9-6 lead behind strong play at the net from freshman outside hitter Macie Hall-Anderson, who tallied two of her six kills on the evening in the opener. Sierra would take control of the set due to strong service from senior libero Amari Currey and great plays at the net from junior middle blockers Luna Lopez (six kills) and Angelica Arenas (five blocks) to pull away and go up 1-0 by the score of 25-15.
The second set saw much of the same for the Lancers, jumping out to a 10-5 lead behind great defensive play from senior middle blocker Shebra Rezaye (four blocks) and junior Jocelyn Peña, who helped keep rallies alive that were finished off by East Union hitters.
“We played some really great rallies tonight,” East Union coach Tevani Liotard Leotard said. “We did a lot of things right and were right there in that second set, but you have to give credit, their serves became the difference in the match.”
The strong service in the second set came off of the hand of senior setter
Cianna Leonardo. With her team trailing 14-13, Lenoardo went on a seven-point service run that included three of her team high nine aces in the match to help propel the Timberwolves to a 25-18 win in the second set.
“We really dug deep there in the second,” Raya said. “We started to string together some great serves that got us into offensive positions that our hitters really took advantage of.”
The hitters for the Timberwolves took advantage of great passing from setters Leonardo (16 assists) and Gurjaap Kaur (nine assists). Junior outside hitter Hannah Threet racked up a team high nine kills, while Bella Lee and Lopez tallied five kills each.
“Both setters did a really good job of distributing,” Raya said. “Their jobs are to keep the defense on their toes and not become predictable with where the ball is going, and both Ciarra and Gurjaap did that for us tonight.”
The third set saw Leonardo go on yet another strong service run, this time racking up five aces in an eight point run that helped Sierra put the Lancers away 25-10.
“I get really nervous out there serving,” Leonardo said. “But I just tried to calm myself down and take it one service at a time to give my team a chance to win.”
For the Lancers, the message from their head coach is simple:
“It’s time for us to collectively take a look in the mirror and ask ourselves where we go from here,” Liotard said. “We’re as far off as the scoreboard showed tonight, and it’s just a matter of doing more of the things that kept us in all three sets early on.”
Both teams will hit the road for tough tests next Tuesday, with Sierra traveling to Central Catholic and East Union heading to Mountain House.
