 | | | Sabrina Smith Photo Gint Federas | | | | | | Before beginning the Diablo Athletic League season, Campolindo girls' volleyball head coach John Vuong gave his team the biggest challenge possible: a trip to the Durango Fall Classic.
Hosted in Las Vegas on Sept. 16 and 17, the tournament is one of the premier high school volleyball competitions in the nation - featuring 63 programs, including the No. 3 and No. 6 teams in the country.
"That's why I schedule very tough preseason matches," Vuong explained. "The speed of the game and level of the game is such a fast pace that when we get to league, if we maintain the speed of the game and the level of playing, then I like we'll have a good chance (to succeed)."
After advancing to the NCS title match last fall, the Cougars are led by a trio of veteran players. Senior captain Sabrina Smith will play for UCLA next fall, fellow senior captain Janelle Gong will join the team at the University of Hawaii and junior Cameron Blakely is back in the lineup after an ACL injury wrecked her 2015 season.
"Our goal never changes," Vuong said. "We try to push to get an opportunity to participate in the postseason."
The competition does as well.
"This year, they moved us up to Division II - instead of Division III," Vuong said. "It's all new teams for us in NCS that we've never played in the postseason in the last six or seven years. Our goal never changes: try to get an opportunity to make the postseason."
The Cougars played their first DAL match at home against Las Lomas on Sept. 27, winning 3-0. Two days later, Campolindo dropped Acalanes - also by a score of 3-0 - to improve to 2-0 in league and 9-6 overall.
Following that defeat to the Cougars, Acalanes owns a 1-1 mark in DAL play and an 11-5 mark overall.
"Our goal this year for the season is to absolutely finish as high as we can," head coach Ernie Rodriguez said before warning: "Campo's going to be a tough opponent just like every school is."
"This year's league - it is a tough league," Rodriguez added. "You look at up and down (at the standings).
With seniors Parker Jones, Alex Matson, Devin Grobeck and Melissa Elliott setting the tone, the Dons began their league schedule by taking care of Miramonte 3-1 in Orinda on Sept. 27. Acalanes will get another look at the Mats on Oct. 13 - that time at their home gym in Lafayette - and then host Campolindo a week later.
Like the Cougars, Miramonte played a rigorous nonleague schedule in order to launch the team into DAL play.
"With competitive games and tournaments, we believe we have put ourselves in a good place moving forward when competing against tough teams," said head coach Lisa Bachtold, whose Mats defeated Bishop O'Dowd - last year's NCS Division II champs - in the fourth match of the year.
"The competition is always high in our league and division," Bachtold said. "But we think we are prepared and progressing towards those goals."
After beginning league play with their home loss to the Dons on Sept. 27, the Mats topped College Park 3-0 in a road match on Sept. 27. As Miramonte moves through the schedule, the team will be counting on three senior captains - Caroline Schafer, Blake Sharp and Layne Estes - to anchor the squad.
"The whole team has made contributions in one way or another both on the court and off the court," Bachtold said. "We have a lot of trust in our captains to help lead this team off the court. But they have also made a huge impact on the court as well."
For the Mats, the focus is on battling with their local competitors through the end of the month for top spot in the DAL before making run at yet another postseason run in November.
"There will always be challenges in our league as there are some really tough teams," Bachtold said. "If we can stay consistent and play to our potential, we believe we can do well and hopefully meet our goals."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA