On Sept. 23, 2025, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) Dragons faced off against The Thacher School (Thacher) Toads in the Cabrillo Middle School gymnasium. After a dedication-filled game by both teams, the Dragons came out on top with a 3-0 sweep against Thacher.
Peyton Fox ’27 started the first set off with a serve, the rally ended with Thacher obtaining the first point of the game. Foothill Tech quickly gained the point back, and throughout the next 14 points they created a huge gap for them, which gave the Dragons leverage for the rest of the set. Fiona Aulenta ’26 set the tone for the game with two kills in the near beginning of the game to earn the sixth and eighth point for the Dragons. Sam Jacobson ’26 served for the Dragons through point one to 14 and achieved three aces in the serving streak.
Foothill Tech and Thacher exchanged points on both sides of the court, until Fiona Holt ’28, established momentum for the Dragons with a kill, followed by an ace from Makayla Harris ’27, to make the score 18-4. Thacher began to build confidence off errors from Foothill Tech, leading them to get up to 10 points in the first set. However,with a 14 point lead over Thacher, the Dragons took the set 25-10, achieving the last point through a missed serve from Thacher.
Harris stated, “[this game] gave us a chance as a team to run more special plays and experiment with different people in different positions.”
Thacher served the first ball of the second set and missed their serve. Fox assisted Holt in a kill to earn the Dragons second point of the set. Both teams contributed to missed hits, exchanging points back and forth until the scoreboard showed 9-9. Foothill Tech started to take their lead back with a backrow kill by Jacobson, followed by Holt pushing a down ball on the net at Thacher to achieve a second kill. Holt not only contributed with blocks on the net, but assisted Lilac Reyes ’26 in an out of system play, setting Reyes up for a kill on the net, and made a 5 point gap for the Dragons, introducing the score of 16-11.
Contributions from Maya Adams ’28, Grace Cannavan ’29, Avril Acosta ’27 and Harris enhanced rallies for the Dragons in the second set. Acosta ended a long rally with the Toads with a kill for point 24-16. Thacher sided out by a hit out and hit into the net from the Dragons, the Toads achieved a kill to keep the Dragons at bay in their last point of the game. Although Thacher put up a fight, Holt ended the set with a kill. Concluding the second set with a score 25-19.
“The support and energy helps me play better and I think it helps the team play better as well,” Reyes expressed.
Fox had a five serve streak to start the third set, and in that streak had three aces. Thacher was able to side out on a mistake by the Dragons to earn their first point of the set, but quickly after, the Dragons got a side out by a kill from Adams. Thacher puts up a wall on the net and blocks a back row attack by Jacobson. Thacher put up three points in a row with an ace and a mistake by the Dragons, which Adams put an end to with a kill to make the score 8-4. Both teams traded points until 10-6, by an ended rally from a net by the Toads.
Freshman, Cannavan, came up to the service line and made a serve streak of six, with two aces, and three kills, one by Cannavan and two by Holt. Eventually Thacher was able to get past the Dragons defensive line and got a kill to make the score 17-7. Thacher missed two serves, which led the Dragons to an advantage at the end of the set. Fox assisted Cannavan in a back row kill to get the 24th point of the set. The set was closed out by Jannelle Nelson ’28 with a kill for game point. The third set ended with a score of 25-8, concluding the game 3-0 for the Dragons.
Head Coach Adele Oliveras stated, “We are coming in consistently in the league … as long as we keep our energy up and not make silly errors this should be the normal for the next couple matches.” when explaining how this game will translate into the rest of the season.
The Dragons face off against Dunn School (Dunn) in a home match at Cabrillo Middle School on Sept. 25, 2025, and hope to translate the momentum of this match into the next.
