When rival teams play each other, everyone in town gets hyped. Volleyball played the Monache Marauders on Tuesday, October 5th, in the Sharman Gym. The team was ready and practiced hard until… some difficulties popped up. A few days before the match-up, the JV team had a player test positive for COVID-19, leading to nearly half the team missing in practices. Because of this, the JV game was canceled. Luckily, the Frosh and Varsity teams still got to play.
Before the frosh game even started, the gym was filling up quickly. Our girls were very nervous; you could see it all over their faces. They started the game playing hard, even though the nerves were still quite obvious. The middle & outside hitters had beautiful, solid hits. Freshman Gracee Matthews was hustling to every ball as a setter and created very successful opportunities for her hitters. The defensive players were clever, but every time Monache was returning the ball back every play. PHS took the first Frosh match, but the second game was a little more complicated. MHS came back stronger in the second game and the girls fell into a short slump but regained their momentum quickly. Luckily the team pulled it together and busted out another win to go 2-0 and defeat the Marauders, to maintain their undefeated record.
The varsity game was electric. Several comments have been made since the game was played, but one that stood out from the others was, “This has to be the best rivalry game Porterville and Monache Volleyball has had in years.” Unfortunately, our team lost 3-1. MHS took the first game, but the girls battled hard to keep the score very close. The second game was played how every volleyball game should be; the ladies put on a show and played hard against their cross-town rival, which they (MHS) were not expecting. The third game was fun to watch, but the Panthers couldn’t keep their momentum going. They had the lead and expected the win, after a few calls that didn’t go our way, the game went to Monache. The fourth game was a letdown for our team, and eventually lost the game and the match. There were some excellent plays; the team knows they made some simple mistakes and are committed to fixing them.
Frosh and Varsity are now halfway through the league and are restarting the cycle of teams they play. The teams head to Mission Oak next, sadly leaving the JV team behind for a few more games, hoping to take the last round 5-0.