 | | | Kelly Wirth had 12 kills in the win. Photos Gint Federas
| | | | | | Campolindo continued its unbeaten start to the DFAL girls' volleyball season, riding solid defense and a superb individual performance to a straight-set victory over Acalanes in DFAL play. Team captain Kelley Wirth led the Cougars to a 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 win over the Dons (4-6, 2-1 DFAL) on Oct. 3.
Wirth, who also started for last year's Division III state runner-up Campo squad, recorded 12 kills and factored heavily in the Cougars' big runs.
Head coach John Vuong said the Cougars' hustle on the defensive end deserved a lot of the credit for his team's success.
"I think the defense - those broken plays, scrappy plays, second chances and third chances - those are the plays that really picked up the intensity and the momentum of the team," Vuong said.
Natalie Meniktas, the Cougars' lone returning senior, robbed the Dons with several tough saves, while sophomore Emma Johnson contributed a number of big plays at the net, including three kills during the late Campo surge that put away the final set.
The Dons proved early on that they were not intimidated by their local rivals, grabbing an 11-10 lead in the first set before Campo ran off five straight points with Wirth serving.
Again, the Dons challenged the Cougars in a close second set behind strong play from Rachel Cox (10 kills) and Molly Dalziel, who recorded nine kills including half a dozen highlight-reel spikes.
Despite the consecutive losses, Acalanes jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the final set. But Campo took the next six points and never trailed again.
Dons coach Todd Travis felt that even in defeat, his team showed it was on the right track.
"We've got a young team, we lost 7 seniors, so a lot of those younger girls are still getting out there, still getting the feel of the game," Travis said. "But we played well. A couple missed serves hurt us, but I think we hit at a really high clip and we were able to compete with them step for step."
Campolindo (10-5, 4-0 DFAL) has already suffered as many losses as it did all of last season, thanks to a brutal preseason schedule that included a tournament in which the Cougars faced four other state finalists in a single day.
"It was hard in the beginning because we lost two of our key players, but I think that's our job," Wirth said. "As people leave, we have to step up, and everybody steps up at one point in the season to make those plays."
Coach Voung says his team came away with valuable experience that helped them on Thursday.
"That's the idea to help these girls see the fast-paced game," Vuong said. "That's what really helps when it comes to those tight game situations."
Coach Travis also put the Dons through a grueling preseason schedule -- "We basically played all Division I schools," he said -- and thinks that despite suffering its first conference loss, Acalanes is in a good position and hopeful to make a return to the postseason this year.
"This gave us a good chance to stack up against the best," he said. "So I do think this was good practice for us, and we'll be ready next time around."
In other local action, Miramonte bounced back from Tuesday's straight-set loss at Las Lomas -- in which all three games were close (20-25, 23-25, 22-25) -- with a decisive home victory over Alhambra on Thursday. The Matadors (4-5, 2-1 DFAL) never trailed on their way to winning 25-8, 25-21, 25-16. Team captain Maddie Goodreault led the way with six kills, 10 digs and three blocks, while setter Emily Fabian contributed 19 assists to go along with eight digs and three aces.
"(Tuesday's match) was a hard-fought match that came down to errors on our side of the net, and Las Lomas took advantage," Mats coach Dave Masdeo said. "The girls bounced back immediately; once they saw their stats, they worked really hard on Wednesday. We got those mistakes ironed out."
Upcoming rivalry match-ups:
Miramonte is at Acalanes on Oct. 9
Campolindo is at Miramonte on Oct. 15
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA