Traveling volleyball team wins pool, six straight matches before falling to Shasta Elite
Lake County Sports on Facebook
COTTONWOOD >> The Heat 14-under club volleyball team reeled off six wins in a row before falling to Shasta Elite in the gold bracket championship game on Sunday during tournament action in Cottonwood.
The Heat won its pool in the 24-team tournament with wins over NSVA Wallace 21-14, 21-18, Matrix Kaitlyn 21-4, 21-7 and Momentum Blue 21-10, 21-19.
Advancing to the gold bracket, the Heat continued to roll with victories over Momentum Purple 21-12, 21-7, NSVA Emily 18-21, 21-10, 15-5, and Momentum White 21-19, 21-12 before losing to Shasta Elite in the finals 21-14, 21-19.
“Towards the end of the day we were running out of steam,” Heat head coach Erika Galvan said. “We played for about nine hours on and off before the championship game. We faced one server who racked up the score on us in the first set, but we battled to stay in it. In the second set, we were ahead for a little bit.”
Added Galvan, “This is the team we kept facing at the end of a long day last year,” Galvan said of Shasta Elite. “We need to put in some work before we see them again. In our second round of bracket play we dropped our first set of the day. The girls’ energy was way down. They got pumped up before starting the second set and didn’t lay off their energy. One of our middle hitters, Hannah Clark, coined our new cheer, ‘Keep the HEAT,’ and it helped with our drive. They were so loud after every play. It was fun to see. These girls have gelled together so well. It’s like one big family.”
Team leaders were middle hitter Emma Davis with 55 digs, 43 kills, seven aces and three blocks, setter Trinity Galvan with 62 digs, 57 assists, 39 service points, 12 aces and 10 kills, middle hitter Grace Williams with 37 service points, 30 kills, nine aces and three blocks, outside hitter Emma Jones with 16 kills and eight aces, and opposite hitter Kaia Bohan with 44 service points and 19 aces.
Bohan reeled off 13 points during a pool-play win over Matrix. During that match she finished with 18 service points, 13 aces, 20 assists and seven kills.
Galvan also praised the contributions of outside hitter Ella Delzompo, who had five aces and four kills.
“ She came through at the end of the day with some powerful hits that helped us,” Galvan said.
The Heat 14-under squad returns to action March 9.
