Photo by Javier Valdes
BY STEPHEN LYNCH
There’s something vastly different about the South High volleyball team this year.
Chalk it up to team unity, a fervent work ethic, and/or something else, but whatever the reason, the Rebels have transformed from a pretender to a contender.
After averaging just three wins a season over the past six years, South heads into the final stretch of the regular season with a winning record and a good chance of making the Central Section playoffs for the time since 2011.
The Rebels improved to 14-12 overall and 4-2 in Southeast Yosemite League matches with a 25-22, 25-22, 25-19 sweep of visiting East on Tuesday night.
“I’m really proud of my girls,” South coach Toni Alvarez said. “I’ve never had a group work hard like they do,” They work so hard. It’s all due to them. It’s been awesome to have it finally have it turn around for us a little bit.”
Yoselin Gonzales registered 14 kills and Taylor Castaneda notched 7 kills and 4 aces for South, which hasn’t had a winning record in more than 15 years.
“It feels good.” South senior libero Alena Cisneros said. “Our mentality has changed. Now we want it. We really want it. We’ve improved as a team, and as individuals. We work out butts off. We did everything we can to improve our team.”
Despite the three sets to zero final score, the victory didn’t come easy for the Rebels.
The first set was tied nine times and had four leads changes. The second set was deadlocked six times and featured six lead changes.
The Rebels pulled out both games by coming up big at the end.
Both Games 1 and 2 were tied 20-20 before South went on 5-2 runs to earn hard-fought victories over a determined Blades squad.
The Rebels had much easier time in Game 3. Three aces by Cisneros helped them jump out to an insurmountable 19-9 lead.
“I told them before the last game that they needed to finish it,” Alvarez said. “I told them you need to attack and not let them in. Don’t give them a chance.”
A three-year varsity player, Cisneros was a stalwart on defense for South, tallying 15 digs.
“It was just us being a team,” Cisneros said regarding the Rebels crunch time success in Games 1 and 2. “We work as a team. We encourage each other as a team.”
Tatyana Mendoza, another South senior with two previous years of varsity experience, was a force at middle of the net all match, posting six kills and one block.
“We just kept talking to each other on the court and making sure that we were confident in what we had,” Mendoza said. “We just went out there and gave it our best…This win means a lot to us because they’re a really good team. They came at us really hard, but we played to the best of our ability and fought back every point.”
Sophomore outside hitter/defensive specialist Laila Baameur paced East in kills (8) and digs (10). Destiny Ayala had 7 kills for the Blades, who dropped to 1-6 in SEYL matches.
“We didn’t take advantage when we had the chance,” East coach Johnitta Clemons said. “There were times where we should have been putting the ball down. We were playing off a little bit. South, they’re playing really well. They’re playing together. When you’re playing together, you’re hard to beat. That’s how it is.”
Mendoza has her own take as to why the Rebels are now so much tougher to beat than in the past.
“The vibe is different,” Mendoza said. “We get along with each other more and we know how to play with each other on the court.”
Photos by Javier Valdes
