On the warm evening of Oct. 5, 2023, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) girls’ volleyball team went up against La Reina High School (La Reina) at the Cabrillo Middle School Gym. Here commenced the annual Senior Night where the team bid farewell to their graduating athletes. The night began as the seniors gave heartfelt speeches where they reflected on their personal experiences in the team. The night ended in a crushing 0-3 defeat for the Dragons which brought their record for the season to 10-12.
The first set began with La Reina taking an early lead 8-3. However, this didn’t deter Foothill Tech, who fought hard until taking a timeout as La Reina continued with their dominating lead.
Coming back, the Dragons began chipping away at La Reina’s lead and attempted to close the gap in points. With several long rallies and impressive hits from Morgan Houston ‘25 and Channing McClure ‘25, there were hopes of potentially taking the lead over their fierce opponents. However, these efforts would be met to no avail, as the set ended with a loss 15-25, setting the tone for the rest of the match.
Emily Drucker ‘26 commented on the start of the match, stating, “we need to focus on communication and just like following through with our hits and having more energy.”
The second set started with La Reina’s serve as they, similarly to the first set, captured an early lead of 2-6, as Foothill Tech couldn’t get the ball over the net. Despite this, the crowd kept high spirits and created a positive atmosphere which kept the Dragon’s morale up.
Foothill Tech slowly began to reel in La Reina at 7-11. However, the defense proved to be lackluster, as La Reina scored several back-to-back points which sealed the Dragons fate for the second set, 16-25.
McClure commented on their performance, “I think the team did pretty good as a front, I mean once we got going our digs were really good our swings started coming in. I feel like […] we could’ve done a lot better.”
Tensions were high at the beginning of the third set, the Dragons knew they had to play their hardest to have any chance at a comeback. This set started out as hits were fired back and forth between the teams, with several long volleys and impressive saves from both teams. As the intensity was building, La Reina used their first time out to regroup and reassess their game plan.
In the nail-biting final minutes of the set, the score was tied 25-25. With two intense rallies, the match concluded as La Reina squeaked out a close third set win over Foothill Tech with a final score of 27-25 and 3-0 in set scores.
Coach David Benedik spoke on their opponents and the three hard-fought sets, “I felt like the team went up against a really good opponent, La Reina, their undefeated in the league this year and their really tough competition. I felt like we played really well together as a team. Senior Night tonight, that was a special time.”
Although this was the Dragons’ final home game, their next match will be against Bishop Garcia Diego High Scho
ol (Bishop Diego) on Oct. 10, 2023, where they will seek redemption after a tough loss.
