BY STEPHEN LYNCH
Taliyah Mosley has three positions listed next to her name on West High’s volleyball roster; outside hitter, middle blocker, and middle hitter.
However, against Foothill on Tuesday night, Mosley looked like she was playing a newly invented hybrid position which could best be described as, “middle of everything.”
The multi-talented senior was all over the court hitting, blocking, passing, digging, and serving, at an extremely high level of proficiency.
Her industrious efforts helped West outlast the visiting Trojans in five sets; 26-28, 25-11, 14-25, 25-15, 15-9.
Mosley finished with a match-high 15 kills. She also led all players from both teams with five blocks.
“I just kind of throw myself everywhere,” Mosley said. “Sometimes it works in my favor. Sometimes it doesn’t. Tonight, I guess it was pretty good.”
Mosley had plenty of help from her teammates. Angelina Dominguez recorded 14 kills and four blocks for West, which snapped an eight-game losing streak, dating back to 2015, against Foothill.
“This win means a lot,” West coach Kelsey Graham said. “…Every game the girls came out and tried their hardest and they finally pulled through the last two games. They really wanted it.”
Erica Barraza tallied 30 digs and Stephany Castillo had 20 assists for the Vikings, whose performance was wildly uneven but superb when it mattered most.
West (3-5) had to twice rally from down a game to win the hard-fought non-league match.
Mosley had a big hand in the decisive fifth set, pounding three hard kills to the floor before landing a perfectly placed two-hand push shot for another point that gave West a 7-0 lead.
Propelled by a pair kills by Kaitlynn Torres, Foothill (6-7) fought back to close the gap to 11-8.
But that was a close as the Trojans got. A kill by Castillo pushed West to the brink of victory, 14-9, and then moments later a return of serve, ballhandling error by the Trojans brought an end to the match.
West’s players didn’t know about the Vikings eight-match losing streak against Foothill until Tuesday night’s result was final.
However, Graham certainly knew.
“I am extremely proud,” Graham said. “It means the world to me. I’m hoping and praying that this really lights a fire under them, and they keep going.”
Jasmine Hernandez had seven kills and 21 digs and Alexis Arias chipped in 18 digs for Foothill.
“I just think West High showed up and played to the best of their ability and we didn’t show up today,” Foothill coach Brooke Charles said.
The Trojans rallied from a 17-9 deficit to win Game 1 in dramatic fashion.
After West answered with a dominating victory in Game 2, the Trojans regained the upper hand with a one-sided win in Game 3.
Needing a win to stay alive, West came out strong in Game 4, building a quick 6-1 lead on the strength of two kills and a block by Dominguez.
Foothill trimmed the Vikings lead to 10-7 before a kill by Mosely and an ace by Destinee Davis started a 8-2 West run that all but ended Foothill’s chance to win the fourth set.
The momentum gained from winning Game 4, stayed with the Vikings the rest of the way.
“We struggled with the pace of the match,” Charles said. “We’re great when we play at a fast pace. Whenever we play against teams that have a slower pace, that’s when we struggle. I think the problem is, we didn’t prepare them for a slower (match). We had a quick, intense practice.
Photos by Mark Duffel
