The Arcadia High School (AHS) Girls Varsity Volleyball team has scored yet another win in this season. Our Apaches beat Pasadena High School 3-1 during this proud home game, a win that follows eight others this season: against Hoover, Muir, Burroughs, Maranatha, San Gabriel, Westridge, La Salle, and Claremont. The Apaches can already eye the league trophy after such a fantastic season. 

The first set got off to a great start for the Apaches, with them being in the lead for a majority of the match. Coach Stephen Bernabe, Varsity Girls Volleyball head coach, mentioned that the team wants to put their prime focus on ball control, which means having control over the ball when hitting, passing, and serving. This was visible in the first set with the way the Apaches were playing, by having total dominance over the ball. They ended up winning the first set 25-9!

It seemed like Pasadena had taken their defeat in the first set to heart as they came back and fought immensely in the second set. Their serves and hits were stronger than ever, which earned them their win in this second set. They won 27-25, which shows that the Apaches were close behind the whole time, and the game ended up having to go over the normal set score of 25 as the Apaches were only one point lower when Pasadena hit 25. To win a set, you have to score 25 while being 2 points in the lead. 

The third set started off with both teams giving it their best. They kept interchanging who was in the lead, and no one was in the lead by more than five during the first half of this set. As we got closer to the end of the set, Pasadena started losing their grip and the Apaches ended up winning 25-18. In this set, we also saw how hard the Apaches had trained, as the girls had total control and handled the ball graciously. But this was most apparent in the last set.

The last set was a complete sweep for the Apaches, as they won 25-8. The game was smoothly going on with every point going to the Apaches. Chayse Hoon, an AHS senior and starting middle on the team, made a record of 17 kills in this game. 

“Some of the highlights were that we were able to win most of the rallies in the game, and also there were moments in which 5 players went for a good serving run,” stated Hoon. 

The Apaches looked like they were beaming with joy after the final set, the last set was definitely a huge part in that smile. We congratulate the Apaches and hope they keep delivering wins like this!

Photo courtesy of Alysia Shang and Vania Ahmadi