Monrovia Girls Volleyball Dominates in Win Against Blair

By Jordan Green

Following adisappointing four-set loss to the Arcadia Apaches, Monrovia High School’sgirls volleyball team took care of business on Tuesday, defeating the BlairVikings in three straight sets on the Vikings home court.

The winadvances the Wildcats to a 9-10-2 record, while Blair now falls to 1-5 overall.MHS dominated from the get-go, winning the first set 25-7, which was followedby yet another strong set in which they won 25-6. By the end of the game, theWildcats outscored their opponents 75-25.

The team, intotal, collected 24 kills on the night. Junior Siena Andrews and senior AnayaBerry led the team each with four kills. Along with Berry and Andrews, a totalof six more players earned at least two kills. Andrews also dominated at thefront of the net defensively, acquiring the team’s only four blocks throughoutthe contest.

Sophomore Liberohad a phenomenal game defensively, earning 12 digs by the end of the matchup.The same can be said about sophomore setter Jessica Mitchell, as she assisted18 of the total 24 kills. For Mitchell, that now makes it 21 straight gameswhere she has earned 15 or more assists.

Quitepossibly the biggest factor towards the Wildcats sweeping the Vikings was theirconsistent serving. The team averaged 11 aces per set after collecting a totalof 33 aces out of the 74 serves seen by Monrovia. Eight of MHS’s servers earnedat least one ace, and junior Juliana Castaneda led the team with 11 in total.Before this contest against Blair, her previous high on the season was sixagainst Pasadena High School.

This is nowthe fourth time the Wildcats have been able to sweep its opponents in threesets all season, and it is the first time MHS has accomplished this feat inleague play.

Followingthe contest, the 3-2 Wildcats are now ranked fourth in the Rio Hondo ValleyStandings. They are above San Marino, Temple City and Blair who all own a 0-3to start the season. However, MHS is below La Canada, South Pasadena andChristopher who collectively own a 13-1 record.

Their next game will be yet another league matchup, this time against the Temple City Rams. Although the Rams have lost every league matchup thus far, they started their season incredibly strong winning five straight games to begin their campaign. The game will be played on Oct. 3 at Temple City High School in Temple City, Calif. It is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.

Stats

Kills:                                                               
Andrews, Siena – 4                                          
Berry, Anaya – 4                                           
Carius, Katelyn – 3                                            
Dowell, Amber – 3
Castaneda, Juliana – 2
Corrazelli, Alyssa – 2
Mitchell, Jessica – 2
Shaw, Amber – 2
Brandley, Taylor – 1
Dedeaux, Jadyn – 1

Aces:
Castaneda, Juliana – 11
Friedenberg, Audrey – 5
Andrews, Siena – 4
Corrazelli, Alyssa – 4
Dowell, Amber – 4
Mitchell, Jessica – 2
Shaw, Amber – 2
Rodriquez, Olivia – 1

Blocks:
Andrews, Siena – 4

Digs:
Castaneda, Juliana – 12
Shaw, Amber – 7
Berry, Anaya – 3
Rodriquez, Olivia – 3
De La Rosa, Jasmine – 2
Mitchell, Jessica – 2
Friedenberg, Audrey – 1

Assists:
Mitchell, Jessica – 18
Friedenberg, Audrey – 3
Castaneda, Juliana – 2
Corrazelli, Alyssa – 1