The Cabrillo Middle School gymnasium echoed with rumbling cheers on Sept. 14, as the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) girls’ volleyball team played their third league game of the season against Cate School (Cate). After five grueling sets and relentless rallying from both sides, the Dragons lost 3-2.
When asked about the team’s expectations going into the game, Kaili Garrett ‘24 stated, “We kind of expected that they might beat us, but we were still hopeful.”
The Dragons started up 3-0 due to aced serves by Morgan Houston ‘25. However, Cate quickly pulled its offensive together and tied the score at 5-5. Even with the successful digs from Garrett and the constant spikes by Malia Gray ‘24, Cate outplayed the Dragons and won the first game 25-23.
Cate started the second game off strong, with five points up. The Dragons quickly tightened their offense resulting in a gain of three points, two of which were the result of successful kills by Ashlyn Mullin ‘24, whose spikes had the crowd excited. With this momentum carrying through, the Dragons were able to make a strong comeback, as they beat Cate 25-23.
With the lead of 2-1, due to missed serves and an out of rotation call on Cate, the Dragons were full of energy. Even when Cate started to catch up, the Dragons pulled ahead due to the impressive serves and spikes from Charlis Swezy ‘27. The tide had turned against the Dragons as they struggled with their communication, resulting in Cate winning the third set 25-15.
Starting the fourth set with a tenacious spirit, the Dragons were determined to win. With successful back row digs from Emily Drucker ‘26 and Garrett, the Dragons got their offense rolling and quickly earned a 7-3 lead over Cate. Cate slowly began to chip away the Dragon’s lead until the score was 24-23. In a nail biting final point play, Cate served the ball out and the Dragons took the set.
Cate pummeled the Dragons in the final game with constant spikes to the corners. With their spikes going into the net, and weak serves, the Dragons offense began to crumble and Cate took the victory in the fifth set, 15-10.
After the grueling neck-to-neck games, resulting in an overall win by Cate of 3-2, the Dragons patted each other on the back and accepted their defeat.
When asked what he thought the Dragons did well throughout the match, head coach David Benedik, stated, “I feel like we fought really hard. We really battled with them, everytime we kind of got down we were able to come back.”
Even though we lost, I think we [still] played really good. — Kaili Garrett '24
With their third league game out of the way, consisting of two losses overall, the Dragons are more than ready to make a comeback in their future matches.
The teams’ next league match will be an away game against La Reina High School on Tuesday, Sept. 19, where they hope to redeem themselves.
