Wearing camouflage themed outfits and loudly chanting “Go Barons!” The supportive students from Bonita Vista High’s (BVH) student section, Dog Pound, largely resembles a battlefield. As they continuously cheer on the Lady Barons, BVH girls’ volleyball team.

On Oct. 10, the Lady Barons go head to head with Olympian High School (OHS). A home game, occuring at the BVH gym where many students, family and staff filled the bleachers up and came to show their support for the Lady Barons. After four sets, BVH ends the game in commanding fashion, winning comfortably with a score of 3-1.

Before the game, BVH took their time recognizing all the seniors on the girls varsity volleyball team. This game was their Senior Night so they wanted to make sure they came out with a win. setter, outside hitter and senior Jaiden Mojica (3) explains as to how she felt coming into the game.

“I felt super excited. I have been waiting for four years for senior night and we all just really wanted to win. I had a lot of energy especially because it was our senior night and I wanted to ball out,” Mojica said.

OHS starts the game with the ball earning the first point of the game. But, BVH immediately responds with their first point to tie it, 1-1. After a long back and forth, BVH takes a slight lead 12-9. 

After many hits coming from both sides of the net, BVH holds and expands their lead. Closing the first set off, middle and senior Julia Fesili (5) won the winning point making it 25-19 in the first set. Varsity volleyball coach Ahmad Rice describes how the team prepared for this game.

“In preparation for this game, we made sure we focused on our weaknesses rather than our strengths and put it all together so that we could play our best game,” Rice said.

Moving on to the second set, OHS goes on a run taking a quick 4-0 lead. Eventually, BVH scores their first point with middle and senior Alani Keeran (7) blocking a spike from the other team making the score 1-4. Outside hitter and senior Maria Coronado (11) tricks the opposition with a nice unexpected tap to the other side, catching OHS off guard with the ball landing untouched.

Dog Pound began chanting, “You can’t get that,” to the opposing team. After BVH leads 18-17, OHS comes back and stays ahead the rest of the set, winning the second set. Libero and junior Hayley Frushon (8) explains how the team kept their focus after losing the second set to tie the game.

“We started very slow in the second set, but we picked it up and encouraged each other so we could help each other out. But once you start picking on [the opposing team] they break, I tell my teammates that all the time,” Frushon said. 

Moving on to the third set, BVH huddles up together to think of the next game plan while OHS waits. BVH is on to a good start as they win the first point. Keeran serves the ball slightly hitting the net, OHS thinking the ball was going to fall short, gives BVH a lead of 5-1. 

OHS starts catching up in points tying the game 9-9. OHS on BVH’s tail the whole set, making BVH call for a timeout to regroup themselves and figure out the next steps. Time was ticking and with a very close set the score was 24-23, with only one point left to win the third set, Mojica  serves the ball, causing chaos and making OHS scramble, winning the third set 25-23. 

The fourth set was a complete domination by BVH, gaining a huge 14-0 lead before OHS even had a chance to blink. Eventually, OHS gets their first point at 15-1, however it’s too late for them. While OHS spikes the ball, hoping they could score a point, Fesili blocks the spike, scoring 22-4. The crowd intensely gets louder and louder as BVH is just inches from winning the game. 

OHS goes in for another spike but, once again, Fesili blocks the ball and scores the winning point. BVH’s student section goes wild and the Lady Barons hug each other as they achieved a huge win. Rice shares how he thinks the lady barons played their best game. 

“Today’s game went very well, they all played their best game and I think that it’s at the point where they have to figure out how to be hungry to win. In that last set that we played, it really showed that they were hungry to win,” Rice said.