On the night of Aug. 14, 2025, the Buena High School gym reverberated with the cries of fans who had arrived to cheer on the Foothill Technology High School Dragons (Foothill Tech) of the girls varsity volleyball team faced off against the Buena High School (Buena) Bulldogs. Although Foothill Tech fought hard and took victory in the first set, the combined pressure of Buena’s tall front line, coupled with key injuries, proved too much for the Dragons, and they succumbed after the following four sets.
The Dragons quickly gained the lead as Emily Turner ‘26 gained two aces in a row. With combined kills from Fiona Aulenta ‘26 and Lilac Reyes ‘26, they put a 6-3 lead on the Bulldogs. After a few long rallies as both teams fought hard, Foothill Tech took a 14-7 lead.
A timeout was called by Buena, and both teams had their fair share of missed serves, bringing the score to a close 20-20. After a close back-to-back battle for the final points, Peyton Fox ’27 set Reyes up for a kill to close out the set, for a 25-23 victory in set one for the Dragons.
Buena began the second set with a powerful serve. Both teams battled neck and neck, keeping the score tied throughout most of the set. Foothill Tech fell behind with a couple of errors, which brought the score to 17-12. After a timeout by the Dragons, the defense began to pick up and fought to keep their team in the set. Foothill started to regain momentum and tried to close the gap. Even with all the efforts, Foothill Tech just fell short with a 25-21 loss in the second set.
The third set began with serves from Foothill and a tied score between sets. Throughout multiple exciting rallies, Buena took a quick 9-3 lead. Buena continued to have a strong lead throughout the set with a steady and consistent seven-point lead. Foothill called a timeout and tried to fight back to stay in the game. It proved not enough with yet another loss at 25-20.
Down by one set, this was Foothill Tech’s last chance to make their comeback. As Buena started with a serve and scored four consecutive points, the Bulldogs continued to gain momentum throughout the set. While the Dragons fought fiercely, it was not enough. They lost the final set 25-18.
After the game, Coach Adell Oliveras stated, “When we play schools like this that have a gym, that practice like this regularly, and we can still stay with them point-for-point, it’s impressive… So I think we did great considering we’re this scrappy team that doesn’t have a home.”
The Dragons will continue their fight on the court again on Aug. 19, 2025 against the Viewpoint School (Viewpoint) at Viewpoint in the city of Calabasas, Calif.
