On Thursday night, the girls volleyball team had a triumphant win in a close game against the Burlingame Panthers. Despite being tested throughout the game, M-A won in four sets, 25-12, 25-23, 19-25, and 25-20.
In the first set, the Bears started out strong, winning the first three points of the game. Senior Aria Sokol scored the third point with an ace. The Bears kept their momentum with impressive spikes from juniors Daniela Eline and Duru Ruacan to keep them ahead. The set ended with the Bears winning 25-12.
Burlingame won the first two points of the second set, but the Bears were ready to fight back. With aces from junior Meki Maile and Eline, M-A was able to pull ahead. This set proved to be much closer, with the score differential remaining within a few points. By the end of the set, the Bears were able to pull ahead thanks to another spike from Ruacan, followed by an ace from junior Kiela King, winning the second set 25-23.
The Bears only needed to win one more set to win the game, their spirits high . The set started with an ace from Sokol for the Bears to gain the first point. The Bears scored point-after-point, and were eventually up 6-0, when the Panthers started to fight back. The game was tied at 14-14, when Burlingame began to pull ahead, winning the third set 25-19.
The Bears were hungry for a win going into the fourth set. They stayed ahead the whole set, with incredible spikes from Eline and Ruacan, supplemented with blocks from Sokol and junior Sienna Morales to carry them through. The game ended with a strong serve from Eline resulting in an ace, and the Bears took the set 25-20 to win the game 3-1.
The Bears went into the game knowing the Panthers were going to be tough competition, and hungry for a win. Ruacan said, “We knew from the start that this was going to be a close game and that this team wouldn’t give it to us easily, which is why we stepped up in terms of our energy and strategy.” The Bears played the entire game full of enthusiasm, and they never got discouraged. Sokol said, “Tonight we played fully as a team for the first time this season, and our energy was fantastic.”
