One thing teams in the SJAA find out when they play Weston Ranch in volleyball is that the Cougars will give you a fight and make you earn your victory. The Weston Ranch Varsity girls volleyball team put a scare into the first place Linden Lions last night at Weston Ranch. In a thrilling 5-game match, the Cougars were one game away from defeating the Lions but came up short after Linden rallied to win games 4 and 5 to thwart to upstart Cougars in their upset bid.
The Lions won by scores of 25-19, 29-31, 18-25, 25-14, and 15-10.
Anisa Hekimian continued her impressive play and led the Cougars with 17 kills. Jade Ramos added eight kills, Isabelle Mayorca chipped in with six kills and served up four aces, while her sister, Annabelle, amassed 39 assists over the five-game match.
Leilani Dacus led the defensive side of the net with 35 digs.
Game two was one for the ages. The Cougars tied the game up eight times, twice coming back after trailing by five points (5-5 and 15-15) and grabbed five leads (1-0, 6-5, 25-24, 26-25, 29-28) before Hekimian served out the game at 31-29.
Game three was another outstanding performance for Weston Ranch. The Cougars never trailed but did overcome five Linden tying points. The Cougars grabbed five leads after the tying points and reeled off seven of the game’s final eight points to close it out, 25-18.
However, in games four and five, the Cougars look drained physically and emotionally after getting big wins in games two and three, and Linden put game four away, 25-14, and then finished game five by winning 15-10.
Defeat aside, last night’s game was a terrific example of how much this program has improved this season and sent a message to all opponents that this team will show up and force their opponents to work hard to secure every point.
The Cougars are now 3-4 in the SJAA and 6-7 overall and will play Edison HS on September 22 at Edison.
Weston Ranch’s JV suffered its second SJAA loss, 2-0, and dropped to 5-2 in the SJAA and 7-5 overall. The freshman also took a defeat, losing 2-0 to the Lions.
