 | | | Tyanna Roy (5) and Annie Shurtz (14) Photo Doug Kohen
| | | | | | All three of the Lamorinda high school girls' volleyball teams entered the 2011 season hoping to replicate the success of last year's Campolindo team. The Cougars won the state title in the 2010 season. As playoffs approach, competition in the Diablo Foothill Athletic high school (DAFL) has begun to heat up.
Campolindo (13-7, 8-0) and Miramonte (12-2, 6-1) have been looking to continue their stellar play this season while Acalanes (6-11, 2-5) has tried to improve over the last few weeks in order to secure a spot in the postseason. The Dons traveled to Campolindo on Tuesday, October 18 to try to steal a big win on the road and better their high school record.
Before the game, Acalanes head coach Steve Siegmann talked about what a win against the Cougars would do for his team. "It would be huge mentally for our club. Anytime Acalanes plays Campo in a sport it's a big deal for the players so it would be a good push for us."
The first set didn't go quite the way Siegmann wanted as Campolindo took a 6-0 lead. Campolindo took advantage of the Dons' slow start. Seniors Tyanna Roy, Megan Dalziel and Alex Ligouri, worked to rally the Dons but Campolindo was able to take the first game by a score of 25-11.
The second set was dominated by Campolindo junior Annie Shurtz, who scored almost half of the points for Campo with strong serves and deadly kills. Campo won 25-17.
Acalanes picked up intensity in the third set and made fewer errors, but still could not fend off the Cougars, falling 25-18.
Both coaches used the final set to get their younger talent some experience.
After the game Campolindo head coach Scott Bishop commented that consistency was key in the Cougars win. He said that Schurtz has been instrumental. "I knew this was going to be a break out year for her, and she's handling the role very well. She's one of the most physical players in Northern California. We're happy to have her," he said.
The Lady Mats of Miramonte also got a win last Tuesday against Dublin. The Mats swept the Gaels to improve to 13-3 on the year and 6-1 in high school. Head coach Shannon Ross said the reason the Mats have been so successful is because of leadership. "We have terrific senior leadership; all seven seniors were committed this season to work really hard and to push the rest of the team to work as hard as they could."
Sarah Vaccaro, a four-year varsity starter, and outside hitter Audrey Breitwieser have been instrumental to the Mats success.
Miramonte is .500 versus their fellow Lamorinda schools, losing to Campo, and beating Acalanes once this year. However, the Mats face both schools once more in the final two matches of the season, at Acalanes on November 1 and at home against Campolindo on November 5.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA