Volleyball gets first victory of the season in three set sweep over Pacific
Joleena Silberman and Jennifer Amaral lead the team to their first win
The Yellowjackets celebrate their first victory of the season in a 3-0 win over Pacific High.
Colton, CA—The Yellowjackets took to the court at Hubbs Gym last night looking to right the ship after two losses earlier in the week to Coachella Valley and Desert Mirage. They ended this first week of the season on a high note with a 3-0 victory over Pacific High, giving them their first win of the season.
The team was led on offense by senior outside hitter Joleena Silberman, who led the team in kills with five. On defense, libero Jennifer Amaral kept the Yellowjackets alive with seven digs and 18 serve receptions.
Another key factor in last night’s home win was the crowd. The roars from family members and fellow CHS students fueled the Yellowjackets.
Right from the jump Colton came out hot. With great serving from Amaral and Leslie Venegas, both who finished the game with three aces, the team took an early advantage. Pacific called a time out to try and stop the Yellowjackets, but it wasn’t enough as the Yellowjackets rolled to a convincing 25-15 win in the first set.
Colton started slowly in the second set, unable to immediately capitalize on the momentum. Pacific took an early advantage on several Yellowjacket errors. Colton regrouped after a 7-12 start behind the connection between setter Desyree Gutierrez (8 assists) and Silberman, spiking a Yellowjacket comeback. The tight second set went Colton’s way with a 25-23 win.
Despite being on the verge of their first win of the season, Colton once again came out slow to start the third set. More errors led to an early 6-9 deficit. They mounted another comeback and the rest of the set was an intense back-and-forth that went into extra points. However, unlike in the loss against Desert Mirage, the Yellowjackets ended up on the winning side, taking the set and match 29-27.
“Our game plan for today was just to be loud and come in with new energy,” Desyree Gutierrez said about her team’s approach to the victory.
Coach Wade was happy for his team. “It feels really good,” he said about the victory. “Really amazing to be able to enjoy this win with them. All the hard work they do. I don’t really do much. I’m not on the court working.”
The Yellowjackets volleyball team gets some more practice time over the next few days before taking to the court again next Wednesday to face Chaffey High at the Hubbs.
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Senior Myles Garza is a staff writer for the Pepper Bough newspaper. His interests are in music, film and sports. He is an avid reader, writer, and athlete...